Author: Ramesh Ramachandran
Publication: The Tribune
Date: April 11, 2005
URL: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050411/main7.htm
The borders might be tranquil and
Muzaffarabad may have become only a bus ride away but amid talk of peace
comes the discordant voice of an artiste, a Hindu singer from Pakistan,
who yearns for freedom and honour in his village that is at risk of being
torn apart by intolerance and prejudice.
Krishan Lal Bheel says he is the
only folk singer from Pakistan's Hindu minority. He is the proud recipient
of four awards, including one instituted by the Government of Pakistan.
He, however, resents belonging to the Bheel community, which has suffered
persecution over decades in certain parts of Pakistan.
The kidnapping of girls from the
minority community and discrimination is rampant where he lives. He says
the Hindus have tried to blend into their social milieu but with little
success. The decades-old hostilities between the two countries also contributed
in no small measure to their plight, he observes.
"The situation is very bad in Rahim
Yar Khan from where I belong. We suffer humiliation on a daily basis. People
fight all the time. We are looked down upon but I tell them so what if
I am a Hindu, I understand the tenets of Islam more than some of them.
