Dubbed “Pakistan’s last Jew,” Fishel Benkhald, a resident of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, was originally registered as a Muslim and was named Faisal Khalid. After several months of bureaucratic struggle and paperwork, he was finally recognized by the Islamic country’s authorities as a Jew in March this year.
Benkhald claims he was born to a Muslim father and a Jewish mother. The South Asian country’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) usually does not entertain requests for changing religion on the basis of mother’s faith. But the unprecedented decision by authorities to change his religion on the national identity card made the 29-year-old ecstatic. But since then he has been facing hostility in Pakistan, Benkhald told DW.
“When my landlord learnt about my Jewish identity, he asked me to vacate the apartment where I had been living for months,” Benkhald said. “Obviously, he did not tell me why he took that decision, but I could sense it was because of my new religious status,” he added.
Benkhald lives in Karachi’s middle-class neighborhood, Korangi, and works in the mineral ore supply business.
“I rented another apartment in the same area because my children’s school was in the vicinity. But I had to vacate that place as well, as the new landlord also learnt about my Jewish identity,” Benkhald said.
Benkhald noted that his mother and father had met in Karachi and had a love marriage. He claims his maternal grandparents were Jews. “My father was a secular Muslim and he had no objection to my mother’s faith. My mother never practiced Islam; however she was registered as a Muslim. In her heart, she was always a Jew. She taught me many things about Judaism.”