Many people fled their homes to safer places when the Yamuna River flooded the streets of Delhi due to heavy rains. But, for a group of displaced Pakistani Hindus in the Majnu Ka Tila area, there was no safer place to go. These families could only watch helplessly as the rains consumed all that they had. They were struggling for essential supplies when the Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF) team intervened.
Delhi Refugee Camp
Ten families fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan arrived in India hoping for a better life. However, they had a rough start to their new lives because of the flood and heavy rain. Upon receiving this information, the SNUF team immediately reached the area. We distributed ration supplies for a month among these families. Further, we also provided health care supplies for the children and elderly.
Earlier, SNUF had provided table tennis for children in this Delhi camp. After all, games are essential for a healthy childhood that every child deserves, irrespective of their family’s financial situation. SNUF is determined to serve and work diligently for the brighter future of all these vulnerable groups.
Background
Since the partition of India and Pakistan, Hindu communities have sought refuge in India from the relentless religious persecution of Hindus in Pakistan. In Delhi, a refugee camp is established in the Majnu Ka Tila area. The families that arrive here are generally from economically backward sections of Pakistan. They spend most of their money on passports, visas and other necessities for reaching India.
According to Human Rights Watch’s 2019 Report on Pakistan, as many as 1,000 women from minority families are abducted and forcibly converted to Islam every year, and the government does little to stop such incidents. After being abducted, these girls are often forcibly married to unknown men, raped, sold off, or forced into prostitution.
It is also well-documented that there are several freely-operating radicalized groups that promote Islamic rule, violent jihad (holy war), and hatred towards non-Muslims in Pakistan.
Displaced Hindu students at our free coaching centres gain more than academic support. They also get oriented with the Indian values unique to this land. For example, recently, we celebrated Teacher’s Day at our centre with various events for refugee students.
Event
For the first time, Teacher’s Day was celebrated at the Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF) centre in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Children were introduced to Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s life and works.
The foundation’s mission is to educate displaced children in academics and acquaint them with Indian values and culture. Hence, various programs are organised for the children, whether it’s Teacher’s Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, or Independence Day.
The program began with the singing of the national anthem. Following that, the children recited poems and even delivered speeches in honour of their teachers. The children also crafted greeting cards and small gifts for their teachers.
Why do Indians celebrate Teacher’s Day?
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first Vice President and second President of India, was also a renowned teacher, a great philosopher, and a devoted Hindu scholar. He was honoured with the Bharat Ratna award in 1954 for his qualities. His birthday is celebrated every year in India as Teacher’s Day.
Who are these children at SNUF’s Jodhpur Centre?
These children are displaced Hindu migrants who have been forced to flee from their homes in Pakistan because of the relentless religious persecution there. They are from economically backward tribal communities. Their families generally spend all their money on visas, passports and related paperwork to cross the border to India.
The freedom to celebrate their traditional Hindu festivals, like Janmashtami, without fear of violent attacks is one of the main reasons why poor Hindu families come to India, leaving everything behind in Pakistan. At Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF), we ensure that such children from such families can experience the joy of celebrating Hindu festivals, irrespective of their financial circumstances.
For example, recently, SNUF celebrated Janmashtami at its Jodhpur free coaching centre for refugee children. Our founder, Swati Goel Sharma, prepared the event’s outline and arranged suitable activities for them. Dilip Kumar, a team member and a coach at the centre, executed her plan and beautifully decorated the venue with colourful decorations, balloons, and festive literature.
At last, on the much-awaited festive day, children came to the centre dressed in traditional attire. Among them was a 9-month-old baby dressed as Bal Krishna that was the cynosure of all eyes. The festivities commenced with prayers to Lord Krishna, followed by Bhajans in his praise.
Thereafter, little devotees presented Vidya Bharti and Vishal presented a captivating enactment of Lord Krishna’s meeting with Sudama. Through this play, they conveyed a message of friendship and equality to everyone.
Later, the SNUF team distributed ‘prasad’ to all the attendees at the end of the programme. The team members and students had these sacred offerings together joyously.
Why is this Janmashtami celebration significant?
These children mostly come from Hindu Bhil families that are an economically backward tribe in Pakistan, where minorities don’t get equal rights and opportunities. These families are highly vulnerable to attacks, abductions, shootouts and rapes by the majority community there.
As the state fails to protect them from these atrocities, these families have no option but to migrate to India. For that journey, they have to sell their homes, lands and belongings there at unfair rates. That money is hardly enough to cover the expenses of passports and visas.
Yet, after completing their formalities at the Atari-Wagah border, they enter India. They settle down in make-shift shelters and face many challenges here. Even then, they don’t give up on their dreams for a brighter future for their next generations. For such families, celebrating their traditional festival in a safe environment is a priceless privilege.
To these displaced Hindu families and their children, India is indeed a heaven of freedom where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high.
On July 14, 2023, when Chandrayaan 3 successfully landed on the moon, refugee Hindu children studying at our Jodhpur centre broke into a celebration as they saw live how their prayers for the mission’s success turned true,
These underprivileged children at our free coaching centre realised what this mission meant for ISRO, Bharat and every Indian. They requested their teachers for a collective ‘Prarthana’ for the third mission in the Chandrayaan programme, a series of lunar exploration missions by ISRO.
Our entire team immediately got to work to fulfil their beautiful longings. We organized a live broadcast of the Chandrayaan 3 mission launch at our centre and arranged a Prarthana event. On July 14, these children prayed fervently for the mission’s success. Their faces lit up with smiles as they saw live on TV how the spacecraft landed on the moon successfully.
Expressing their hopes for a bright future for the country, our students also talked about contributing to various fields in the future, thereby bringing further glory to the nation.
In Jodhpur, Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF) conducts a free coaching centre for refugee Hindu children. These students come from poor families that migrated to India to flee religious persecution in Pakistan. They spent all their resources to obtain visas and other paperwork required to start their lives afresh in India. They settle mostly around cities in Rajasthan, especially Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.
SNUF is committed to supporting such vulnerable families to find their feet in India. Other than education centres, we also support them with shelter, livelihood, drinking water and ration supplies.
No one knows more about the value of shelter in India than a poor Bhil family fleeing relentless religious persecution in Pakistan. Such displaced families try to start their lives afresh here. But how does a family look forward to a better future if they can’t have access to even basic human needs?
To help them, the Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF) provides building materials to construct homes and ration supplies.
Many Hindu families, especially from the Bhil tribe in Pakistan’s Sindh province, are leaving behind their livelihoods, homes, and land, seeking a better life in India through religious visas. These communities are economically weaker and highly vulnerable to attacks.
Recently, seven more such families crossed the border to settle in Jodhpur. SNUF assisted them in building houses and distributed ration supplies to welcome them.
He is Bhagat Amlakh Das Bhil. He came to India only six days ago from Pakistan after fleeing persecution
The first thing that all such refugees need is a home. We are glad we could be of help
Amalakha Ram, Ajit, Gulab, and other families arrived in Jodhpur a few days ago. After their arrival, they lived in makeshift shelters in the Gangana village. When SNUF heard about their condition, we wasted no time providing such families with the necessary supplies and shelter support.
Amlakh Ram, Gulab, Ajeet Lal are members of seven families who arrived in India this week from Pakistan
Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation by @swati_gs and @SanjeevSanskrit provided them with immediate supplies for building home in Jodhpur
All families were extremely happy to receive the supplies. The smiles on their faces were our reward. They put together a little singing and dancing programme for children to make this occasion more remarkable. All little performers showcased their traditional folk dances enthusiastically.
It was heart-warming for the SNUF team to realize that these families thought of us as members of their own families.
This newly arrived Pakistani Hindu refugee family in Jodhpur approached us @sewanyaya for help. We immediately accessed their needs and provided ration, water tank and material for building shelter
At Sewa Nyaya Uththan Foundation (SNUF), we often find that Hindu families escaping religious persecution in Pakistan are not expecting freebies and handouts from others in India. They are here to thrive in a much safer environment. They would much rather find employment or start their business than accept charity. SNUF team admires such values and does everything possible to support them.
New families from Pakistan keep coming regularly to the camp for Hindu families located in Delhi’s Majnu ka Tila area. We recently distributed rations and essential supplies among them. However, some individuals pointed out how they would prefer to sustain themselves by any means of employment instead of depending on others to support them.
Dhanraj Bagdi, who used to reside in Supari Park in Pakistan’s Karachi, moved to India with four other family members – wife, son, daughter, and a brother. His three brothers and parents are still in Pakistan. During the ration distribution, Dhanraj mentioned he would like to start working here if he received some support.
Another Hindu resettler, Prakash Bagdi, who used to sell mobile accessories, expressed similar ideas. His belongings were damaged due to the recent rains in Delhi.
SNUF came forward to help both of them. It was decided that Dhanraj would also sell mobile accessories. The next day, they were given mobile covers, tempered glass, pins, and other items purchased from the Karol Bagh market in Delhi.
They were happy to find employment and expressed gratitude to our team and founder, Swati Goel Sharma.
