Pakistan’s ‘last Jew’ recognised by govt
ISLAMABAD : Often referred to as Pakistan’s last surviving Jew, Fishel Benkhald has finally been recognised as such by the government.
The 29-year-old activist, originally registered as a Muslim, was recently allowed by the interior ministry to change his religion from Islam to Judaism, an unusual move by authorities in the Muslim-majority country.
Benkhald, born in Karachi in 1987 to a Muslim father and a Jewish mother, was registered as Faisal in his national identity documents.
His parents died in the 1990s and Benkhald identified himself as a Jew during the ongoing census.
After months of bureaucratic paperwork and numerous appeals, the interior ministry gave the green light in response to his application seeking “conversion/correction” of his religion.
Benkhald, a resident of Karachi, claims he is the only person of his faith in Pakistan. In his appeal to the interior minister, he insisted his religion be changed on his national identity card.
The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) usually does not entertain requests for changing religion on the grounds that an applicant’s faith is different from the father’s.
Despite Benkhald’s claim that he is the last Jew in Pakistan, The Express Tribune quoted an unnamed official as saying that there are 745 registered Jewish families in the country.
The official said details about Jews are treated as “top secret”.
There are numerous reports in Pakistan of members of minority communities being forcibly converted to Islam but instances of Muslims renouncing their faith for another religion are extremely rare.