Tight-lipped about their future, about 250 Pakistani Hindus arrived in India Friday evening after promising authorities in Pakistan that they will return on completing their pilgrimage.
The first batch of nearly 100 Pakistani Hindus crossed the Wagah-Attari land border joint check post between both countries after 4 p.m.
‘We have come here on pilgrimage. Though things are not easy for us (in Pakistan), we will return after our visit,’ one of the pilgrims told media at the Attari check post.
Speaking off the record to the media, most of the visitors said they were facing a difficult life in Pakistan, with many of them being forced to convert to Islam. They said that given an option, they would like to stay back in India.
The Hindus, men and women, were allowed to continue their journey to India by Pakistani authorities after they gave the commitment that they would return.
A section of media in Pakistan had speculated that the Hindus had no intention of returning to Pakistan because of alleged harassment by Islamists.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik went public Thursday night alleging a ‘conspiracy’ against Pakistan and demanded to know why the Indian high commission in the Pakistani capital had issued so many visas to Hindus.
He refused to let the Hindus proceed beyond Jacobabad (Sindh) unless he was satisfied they would not take asylum in India citing religious persecution -- as some Pakistani Hindus had done earlier. The Hindus were allowed to go after their representatives pledged the families would return to Pakistan.
One report said that seven Hindu families from Jacobabad left for India Wednesday night, citing lack of safety and security in Sindh province.
The first batch of nearly 100 Pakistani Hindus crossed the Wagah-Attari land border joint check post between both countries after 4 p.m.
‘We have come here on pilgrimage. Though things are not easy for us (in Pakistan), we will return after our visit,’ one of the pilgrims told media at the Attari check post.
Speaking off the record to the media, most of the visitors said they were facing a difficult life in Pakistan, with many of them being forced to convert to Islam. They said that given an option, they would like to stay back in India.
The Hindus, men and women, were allowed to continue their journey to India by Pakistani authorities after they gave the commitment that they would return.
A section of media in Pakistan had speculated that the Hindus had no intention of returning to Pakistan because of alleged harassment by Islamists.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik went public Thursday night alleging a ‘conspiracy’ against Pakistan and demanded to know why the Indian high commission in the Pakistani capital had issued so many visas to Hindus.
He refused to let the Hindus proceed beyond Jacobabad (Sindh) unless he was satisfied they would not take asylum in India citing religious persecution -- as some Pakistani Hindus had done earlier. The Hindus were allowed to go after their representatives pledged the families would return to Pakistan.
One report said that seven Hindu families from Jacobabad left for India Wednesday night, citing lack of safety and security in Sindh province.