Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan leaves no international platform (related or unrelated) to make incoherent rants about the alleged oppression of minorities in India. But seldom has he looked in his own backyard to check the condition of Hindu, Sikh and Christian minorities grappling for survival in Pakistan.
The growing menace of forceful abduction, rape and marriage of Hindu girls especially minors in Pakistan is a known fact. However, that’s not where the atrocities on the mere 2.14% (Hindu population) stop. Attack on Hindu communities, their houses, businesses and even temples are on a rise in the neighbouring country.
Here’s how many Hindu temples were attacked in Pakistan in the past year.
Ganesha Temple in Bhong
Emotions raged as the video of a Ganesha temple in Pakistan’s Punjab province being vandalized and burnt down went viral on social media. The mob attacked the temple on Wednesday at Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district.
Attack on Hindu temple at Bhong City District Rahimyar Khan Punjab. Situation was tense since yesterday. Negligence by local police is very shameful. Chief Justice is requested to take action. pic.twitter.com/5XDQo8VwgI
— Dr. Ramesh Vankwani (@RVankwani) August 4, 2021
The temple was attacked with sticks, stones and bricks by the crazed locals from the majority population. A part of the temple was razed and idols lay desecrated.
Under construction temple vandalized in Islammabad
An under-construction temple of Lord Krishna which was to be Islamabad’s first Hindu temple was attacked in July last year. The Capital Development Authority had to order stoppage of the construction after the boundary walls of the temple were razed down by local Muslims.
The temple construction was approved by the city authorities who had even allocated funds but later said that the matter of construction using government funds should be referred to the Council of Islamic Ideology- a government-approved body that advises on religious matters. The Hindu Panchayat is now constructing the temple from its own finances.
Pre-partition Hanuman temple razed in Lyari
In August last year, a builder reportedly demolished a pre-partition Hanuman temple in Pakistan’s Lyari. As per the Hindu locals, the builder had assured that the temple would not be touched during ongoing construction.
However, the temple was reduced to a pile of bricks on August 16 last year. “We tried to enter the temple but were denied entry by the builder,” narrated a local alleging that the builder had deceived the residents living there.
Members from the 18 families living around the temple had said they had seen and visited the temple since their childhood.
Shri Ram temple attacked
In October last year, Shri Ram Mandir in Nagarparkar was vandalized in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
Hindu temple in Nagarparkar vandalised and idol of a deity desecrated after the community held Navratri prayers. pic.twitter.com/4KsnAGzjdA
— Naila Inayat (@nailainayat) October 24, 2020
The unidentified miscreants damaged the head of the idol of Hinglaj Mata and desecrated the shrine.
As per reports, Pakistani human rights activist and spokeswoman for Justice for Minorities in Pakistan Anila Gulzar said that only 20 temples out of 428 are left in Sindh.
Temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa razed by a mob of hundreds
Hundreds of Pakistanis were seen burning and razing down a Hindu temple in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in December last year.
Temple being demolished by extremist in Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/hKmYHDGRhE
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) December 30, 2020
The Krishna Dwara temple, which is situated in Karak’s Teri union council, came under attack by hundreds of residents who set fire to the building, then razed it down with hammers and crude weapons.
Reportedly, the temple was built after Guru Shri Paramhans Dayal was laid to rest at the site in July 1919. However, the Muslim residents of the area had closed the temple after the Partition in 1947. Only in 2015, was the temple restored on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
In a shocking move, Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in July this year decided to withdraw cases against 350 people accused of burning down the Hindu temple claiming the Hindu community had ‘pardoned’ the mob.
100-year-old temple attacked in Rawalpindi
A 100-year-old Hindu temple undergoing renovation in Pakistan’s garrison city of Rawalpindi was attacked by a frenzied mob in March this year.
A mob of around 12 stormed into the temple and damaged the main door, another door in the upper storey as well as the staircase.
Mata Rani Bhatiyani Devi temple vandalized
In January last year, another Islamic mob had vandalized Mata Rani Bhatiyani Devi temple in Chachro, Tharparkar in Sindh Pakistan and had reportedly set fire to Hindu holy books.
The mob had also desecrated the goddess statue and blackened the face of the idol reports.
As per an India Today report, out of 365 Hindu temples in Pakistan, only 13 are being managed by the Evacuee Trust Property Board board, leaving the responsibility of 65 to the persecuted and impoverished Hindu community, and abandoning the rest to the land mafias.
