Pakistan: Businesses shut in Sindh to protest kidnappings of Hindu businessmen

KASHMORE: A complete shutdown of business was observed in Sindh Province’s Shikarpur and Kashmore districts to protest against rising cases of abductions of Hindu businessmen and their family members.

The shutdown was also observed by Muslim businessmen as a mark of solidarity with their Hindu counterparts.

A large protest rally was also carried out by Hindu and Muslim businessmen in Kashmore to condemn the kidnappings and failure of law enforcement agencies to arrest the culprits.

Recently, videos of 65-year-old Jagdish Kumar Kukhi and 25-year-old Sagar Kumar, s/o Inder Lal were received by their family members. In both videos, the victims were being beaten with assault weapons aimed at their heads. The Bandits had demanded Pakistani Rs 10 crores for their release.

On August 30, 2023, JeI Chief Sirajul Haq also held a protest march against the kidnappings of members of minority communities in Sindh for ransom by dacoits and bandits. Sirajul Haq had demanded immediate action to secure the release of Jagdish Kumar Mukhi and Sagar Kumar and vowed to adopt a radical strategy to address the bandit problem in the province.

The members of the Hindu Panchayat and Youth Alliance of Kashmore had also protested the kidnappings of Sagar Kumar and Jagdish Kumar Mukhi and had called for greater presence of security forces to address the problem of Bandits.