Lahore, Pakistan (CHAKRA) – A Hindu couple, Mukesh and Padma in Hyderabad Pakistan, tied the knot with a traditional Hindu ceremony but in a fashion different from the rest. The wedding, while having the seven pheras (seven circles around the holy fire) was held on the streets for two purposes. The start of a new relationship for the couple as well as to publicize a stance against the complete disregard of Hindu couples existence.

Since 1947, the Muslim-backed Pakistani government has not recognized Hindu married couples as legally married. Due to this ignorance and disregard for Hindu individuals, many families have had to deal with social, psychological and even domestic problems including domestic violence against women, says Guru Sukh Dev, the pandit who solemnized the Hindu ceremony with Vedic verses.

Ramesh Mal, a local leader organized the demonstration for the couple and he said that ever since the creation of the Islamic State of Pakistan, they have not yet accepted Hindu marriage in order to enact laws that formalize it in a majority-based Muslim society. Mal further stated his opinion that the Pakistani government should follow suit from India and take steps to introduce laws that protect Hindu marriages.

According to Mal, not only do Hindu marriages cause hardships for Hindus in Pakistan but the community also has problems obtaining passports, registering married women, and conducting property transfers. Due to these issues even traveling within Pakistan becomes difficult if not impossible for Hindu individuals.

During the marriage the protesters chanted slogans to convince President Zardari to take further steps towards legalizing Hindu marriages.

Sapna Devi, one of the protesters revealed her union of marriage of 17 years yet she had no legal proof of it. In her case if her husband were to pass away she would not even be able to claim property that rightly belongs to her because there are no legal terms stating they are a union.

The newly wedded couple shared that although their wedding may have been seen as strange or chaotic, they still saw it as a start of a new life for them because they were fighting for change that was very important to their union–something the marriage ceremony itself stood for. So they think it was worth every minute, if it got a point across to the government and media. Padma said that everyone deserved to have such a basic right and they will not stop fighting until they get what they deserve.

Afghan-Sikhs are faced with the problem of not having proper burial places for deaths of Sikhs

By Tan Ong

Afghanistan (CHAKRA) — On a two day visit to Afghanistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met members of the Afghan-Sikh minority community in Kabul. He listened to their issues with regards to obtaining Indian citizenship and other problems the Sikh community was facing such as threats and killings in Muslim-majority Afghanistan.

To hear the problems, the Prime Minister met members of the community in the presidential palace complex.

The community members stated their concern about their community’s population decreasing because of migration out of the country, including India. Over 90 percent of the Sikh Afghan community has migrated out of the country.

The lack of a proper cremation ground in Kabul and constant attacks by Islamic extremists has caused an issue for the Sikh community to complete their funeral rites.

In total there are 531 Afghan-Sikh families in Afghanistan of which 143 families reside in Kabul.

An orange-coloured “robe of honour” was presented to the prime minister, know as a siropa. Thereafter, the prime minister was introduced to members of the Indian embassy, the Indo-Tibetan border police, as well as to the Indian Medical Mission.

Manmohan Singh praised the community for staying strong during hard times. He saluted their courage and was pleased to see the community creating goodwill for India.

In the past the Buddhist minority in majority-Muslim Bangladesh have been constant targets by various groups

Chittagong, Bangladesh (CHAKRA) — Three men were arrested by police after they barged into a Buddhist temple this week to attack a Buddhist monk during a religious function. The incident occurred at the Avoysharan Temple at Mirsarai.

The full names of the arrested were not disclosed but local sources stated that one of the arrested is named Aminallah who is 28.

While a program was taking place at the temple about 15-20 men stormed in attacking the Buddhist monks as well as their followers. The culprits were armed with firearms, and sharp weapons which they used badly injuring Dharma Kirti Mohathero.

After the injury Moharthero was rushed to emergency at a private clinic in the city.

The clash happened do to tensions between two rival religious parties in the village of Damdama.

On the same night Moharthero`s brother Dhona Barua filed a case in connection with the whole incident.

Humayun Kabir, the officer in charge at the Mirsarai Police Station, said that the police had deployed several teams to arrest the criminals.