Minorities in Pakistan Fear More Attacks During Ramadan: 2 Hindus Killed in Wine Shop by Extremists

Two men from Pakistan’s minority Hindu community are confirmed dead after extremists opened fire at a Government-licensed liquor shop in this Pakistani port city of Karachi. Three minorities, including 2 Hindus, were at the ‘Super Wine shop’ in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area in Karachi  when the gunmen opened fire, killing them instantly. The deadly attack took place a day before the holy religious celebration of Ramadan. The owner of the Wine shop, a Hindu, escaped with no major injuries.

“Apparently Taru Mal had been receiving calls for extortion/jizya money and he refused to pay,” Senior police official Rao Anwar said. He said security had been increased at the two wine shops Mal owned after he got the threatening call following a shootout warning him he would be the next target.

Threats from Islamists and religious extremist groups are common for Hindus and other Non-Muslim minorities living in Pakistan. Many families that we spoke to stated that they receive threats from local extremist groups demanding ‘jizya‘, a form of extortion defined as a tax  levied by Islamic states on certain non-Muslim subjects (also referred as infidels) permanently residing in Muslim lands under Sharia law. Hindus state that if extortion from extremists are not paid that they risk the kidnapping & forced conversions of their daughters or violent attacks against them. It has been reported that at least 25 Hindu girls are abducted every month by Islamists in Pakistan, with little help from authorities and Government officials.

In Pakistan, Islam is the official state religion and various laws restrict religious minorities to feel isolated and often targeted under religious laws such as the ‘blasphemy law’. All forms of alcohol consumption, including wine and beer is banned for Muslims, but the government issues licenses for wine shops run by its excise department where only non-Muslims and foreigners can purchase liquor. However, alcohol is still looked down upon and as evil by Pakistan’s conservative population.

Although, there is no official statistic, it has been reported that almost all alcohol shops have been threatened or attacked at one point in time or another. Most of these wine shops are run by Christians or Hindus in Karachi.

In many rural areas where there are not many Hindus, Christians and Sikhs, many non-Muslims smuggle homemade moonshine alcohol. There have been reports that moonshine alcohol is usually the target of poisoning by extremists. Earlier in Tando Muhammad Khan district during March this year, 22 minority Hindus were poisoned and died by drinking moonshine alcohol. In this case, local doctors could not confirm if there were unusual poisonous chemicals in the illegal moonshine.