Fischel Benkhald
PASSOVER EDITION 5777 SECTION A PAGE 13
A man claiming to be Pakistan’s only Jew was granted permission to change his faith from Islam to Judaism on his Pakistani national identity card.
Fischel Benkhald was born Faisal Benkhald in Karachi in 1987, the son of a Jewish mother and Muslim father.
He says his fondest memories are of his mother cooking fresh challah every Friday and reciting blessings over Shabbat candles. Recognizing her son’s interest in his Jewish heritage, she always prepared kosher food for him.
As an engineer, Benkhald’s father often worked abroad in Africa, enabling Benkhald to experience a freedom to practice and learn about Judaism in a manner that would have been limited in Pakistan.
He began a campaign for his name to be altered on the National Database and Registration Authority about two years ago, and called for his official religious status to be changed from Muslim to Jew. An initial application was declined in late 2015.
In 2016, after Benkhald reapplied, his case was taken up by Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association.
On Jan. 10, 2017, Chowdhry raised the matter with the First Minister at the Pakistani High Commission in London, who then took it to Pakistan’s Interior Ministry.
On March 27, Fischel Benkhald confirmed to Chowdhry that his ID card has been green-lighted, which will make Benkhald the first registered Jewish citizen in Pakistan for decades.
Karachi was once home to a small but thriving Jewish community of 3,000, with its own synagogue and cemetery. Many of the Jews there came from Iraq. Most left in 1948 following demonstrations and violence during Israel’s war for independence. Those who remained changed their names to more Muslim ones for their protection.
In 1988, despite international condemnation and calls for it to be preserved as a heritage legacy, the Jewish synagogue was torn down for a shopping mall.
Although there are around 900 Jews registered to vote in Pakistan, no passport holder is recognized as being of the Jewish faith.
Following the decision on his passport, Fischel said: “I am pleased with this result which comes just before the Jewish celebration of the Passover, when the Torah tells us Jews escaped from Egypt. It feels like shackles have been removed from me and I feel a great sense of liberty now.”
According to JTA, it was the first time a Pakistani citizen was permitted to register as Jewish.
— British Pakistani Christian Assn.
