Free Mason Hall
Deutsche Welle, a reporter for the English broadcaster DW, wrote in a report on Jews in Rawalpindi that it was difficult to identify Jews in Rawalpindi. Only one of the Pakistani Jews contacted by Deutsche Welle was a senior citizen.  He agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity.  This elderly Jewish citizen of Pakistan is a good year old and lives in an old and densely populated area of ​​Rawalpindi.  "There was a time when even about thirty years ago, there were about forty-five Jewish families living in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Gujranwala," he said.  Many Jewish families, including my own, have migrated to Europe, the United States or South Africa.  At least six Jewish families have relocated to Karachi, ”he said.“ Until the 1970s, there were two synagogues in Rawalpindi.  But despite the fact that a few Jewish families lived in the city, these places of worship were closed because our religious leaders, the rabbis, were not available.  Jews stopped registering as voters because it is now a viable option for a Jew to run for office in a particular seat and to go and vote for such a candidate as a voter in an age of sectarianism and extremism.  No, ”said the Pakistani minority, who has spent most of his life in a neighborhood in Rawalpindi, explaining to DW why local Jews have little interest in politics.  Similarly, he has never been politically active.  But due to the instability of the democracy that was restored after the dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq and the lack of interest of almost all political parties in the local Jews, our own interest in politics has almost disappeared.  The last time I cast my vote was in the 1990 general election.  After that, the desire to participate in the election as a voter disappeared.