Local police, administration officials say the city has a low crime rate, which makes them easily arrangements for major religious festivals.
In the desert city of Matthew, Hindu fasting prepares food for Muslims, who in turn gather to welcome a Holi procession, which is a rare moment of religious solidarity.
Discrimination against minorities is deep, but this tension is not found in the fenugreek of Sindh, which is a rich city of sand mounds and mud brick houses.
“All the traditions and rituals here are being celebrated together,” said Raj Kumar, a 30 -year -old Hindu businessman. AFP.
He added, “You will see that on Holi, Hindu youths include Muslim youth, celebrating together and painting each other.”
“Even after Muslims demanded prayer, the Imam says” peace for Hindus and Muslims “.”
This year, the Hindu festival of Holi and the holy month of Ramadan came together. Both incidents are transmitted every year according to lunar piety.
Holi, the festival of color, has been marking the arrival of spring for centuries, and the crowd has openly thrown colorful powder and water on each other.
On Thursday, hundreds of Hindus organized a procession in the streets of Matthew, one of the few cities where they make the majority, their Muslim neighbors will be warmly welcomed at the city square.
“We have learned to stay together since childhood. It has come to us through generations, and we are also following it,” local Mohan Lal Mali, 53, said after arranging to break his fast to break his fast.
The cows, which are considered sacred in Hinduism, roam freely in the streets of fenugreek, while women wear traditional embroidered sarees with mirror work.
There is no beef shop in the city, because Hinduism is forbidden, and Muslims sacrifice goats only during festivals.
Matthew, which consists of about 60,000 people, is primarily a Hindu – in a country where 96 % of the 240 million people are Muslims and 2 is Hindu.
Fawzia Haseeb, a Christian woman, traveled about 320 km from Karachi, to observe the mixed opportunities.
“There are people who follow the three religions: Christians, Hindus and Muslims,” ​​he said. “We wanted to see ourselves whether it was right or not, and there is no doubt that it is.”
‘No distribution between us’
Ramadan is a month of peaceful prayer and reflection in Islam, and Hindus respected their Muslim neighbors that they will not be involved in Holi celebrations with the usual enthusiasm due to religious observation.
Putting powder on the face of local Hindu PPMNA Mahesh Kumar Milani, Muslim Clair Babu Aslam Qamkhani said, “You cannot see the color on me today, but in the past, they would have wet me in colors.”
“If anyone runs for a Hindu post, Muslims vote for them, and vice versa,” said Milani, a minority MNA’s only elected in the National Assembly.
Since the Hindus celebrated with the processions and temples, there was no armed security – which is quite the opposite of other parts of the country.
The freedom of religion or belief is under a permanent threat to the country, religiously motivated violence and According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, annual discrimination increases.
The commission said that state officials often use religious unrest for political benefits, have failed to deal with the crisis.
But in Matthew, 19 -year -old Muslim laborer Amanullah said AFP: “There is no division between us. We are all human, and we are all equal.
Local police and administration officials said the city has a low crime rate, which has “no major security challenges”, which can make them easily arrange for major religious festivals.
“His business, his daily life and his dialogue have been together for centuries and they are still strong,” said Abdullahim Jagirani.
‘A light feeling of fear’
Locals say that the peaceful existence of fenugreek can be reached to a remote place, which emerges from the sand dunes of the Tharparkar desert, which is connected to the modern Indian state of Rajasthan.
With limited access to infertile soil and water, it was rescued from looting and wars for centuries, and violence on the bloody division of 1947 when India and Pakistan were formed, and many Hindus fled across the new border.
But several residents told AFP In recent years, the prosperous city has seen the increase in newcomers as a result of its growing infrastructure.
A large coal project has brought laborers from other provinces to the city, and at the same time, religious political movement-I-Labbaik supports Pakistan (TLP) party.
On the city’s Central Square, a big banner is hanging for TLP, which has called the blasphemy explosive issue its central concern.
“People coming from outside the city are causing some doubts,” said Padma Lodha, 52, a 52 -year -old Hindu headmistress, at a local girls school. AFP.
“But overall, things are still well controlled and peaceful.”
Header image: A mother paints her son’s face when she celebrates Holi’s Hindu festival on March 13. – AFP
