The Pakistan Hindu Council is said to have planned a function on Monday (November 8) to celebrate Diwali at a century-old temple at Teri village in Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. According to a report published in Pakistan newspaper Dawn, the Hindu Council has invited Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmad to participate in the Diwali celebration scheduled at the temple popularly known as Teri temple. The temple vandalized in December last year has been renovated.
The temple is dedicated to a saint Shri Param Hans Dayal Ji Maharaj who was laid to rest in 1919 and the temple was constructed here in 1920. On December 30 last year, the temple was vandalized by a mob led by local clerics belonging to the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl.
According to the report of the Dawn, a good number of devotees from Sindh and Balochistan are expected to visit the temple. Hindu Council has requested the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to make arrangements for boarding and lodging of around 1,500 pilgrims at Hassanabdal. From Hassanabdal they will be taken to Teri on Monday for darshan and return the same day.
PHC patron-in-chief and member of the National Assembly Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said that the presence of senior officials during the celebration would give a strong message to the miscreants that their nefarious designs would be foiled by the state.
Hindu minorities in Pakistan including Sikhs have been facing prosecution including forced conversion, abduction of their women and destruction of their temples and Gurudwaras. The shrine of Shri Param Hans Ji Maharaj is one such religious place that was repeatedly vandalized. Apparently, the Hindu Council invited the Chief Justice of Pakistan for the programme as a thanksgiving. When the Pakistani government had allowed Islamic fundamentalists to prosecute Hindu minorities and destroy this temple, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had intervened.
On the orders of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Teri temple was restored to its original condition. A three-judge SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, had also ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to recover Rs33 million from the culprits when Advocate General for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shumail Butt said that Rs 33 million was spent on restoration of the temple.
