-Minister for Religious Affairs calls the attack “a conspiracy against sectarian harmony”
Bureau Report
PESHAWAR: At least 300 people have been booked Thursday on a charge of vandalizing Hindu temple in District Karak while 31, including prime suspect Molvi Sharif of Jamiat Ulema e Islam – Fazl have been arrested after Chief Justice of Pakistan took notice of the incident.
Police have booked the local emir of JUI-F Rehmat Salam who was arrested earlier Thursday from his residence.
On the other hand, the Hindu Trust officials claimed the police were being complicit to the vandalizing yesterday allowing mob a leeway to destroy the temple and runaway.
According to the police superintendent, the event transpired due to the restoration of the temple as the local clerics incited the mobs soon after they learned of the official permission of restoration.
It may be noted that police was directed into action after Chief Justice of Pakistan took notice of the vandalism at the shrine of a Hindu saint in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district.
Dr. Ramesh Kumar, MNA and Patron in Chief Pakistan Hindu Council, called on the chief justice at the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry and raised the issue of “desecration/burning of shrine of Hindu saint Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj” by a mob Wednesday in Karak, according to a statement issued by the SC.
CJP Ahmed showed grave concern over the tragic incident and informed the member of Parliament that he has already taken cognizance of the matter and has fixed it before a bench for hearing on Jan 5 (Tuesday).
The attack on the temple on Wednesday in the town of Karak, some 100km (62 miles) southeast of the provincial capital Peshawar, drew condemnation from human rights activists and the minority Hindu community.
The attack happened after locals were ostensibly offended by a planned extension of the temple, which has been under renovation for years.
The temple had been badly damaged in attacks in 1997 and provincial authorities had only carried limited renovation had been done on it until the Supreme Court ordered a full refurbishment was ordered by the Supreme Court in 2015.
The Hindu community – which comprises less than 2 percent of Pakistan’s 200 million people – had planned to extend the temple as part of the renovations, according to District Police Chief Irfanullah Khan. He said a house adjacent to the temple had been bought by the community and was being renovated, offending locals who denounced the move, saying the 2015 Supreme Court decision had been on condition that the temple would not be expanded.
According to witnesses, the mob was led by a local cleric and supporters of Pakistan’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party.
Minister for religious affairs, Noorul Haq Qadri, called the attack “a conspiracy against sectarian harmony”. He took to Twitter on Thursday, saying attacks on places of worship of minority religious groups are forbidden in Islam and “protection of religious freedom of minorities is our religious, constitutional, moral and national responsibility”.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured Pakistan’s minorities of their safety. “I want to warn our people that anyone in Pakistan targeting our non-Muslim citizens or their places of worship will be dealt with strictly. Our minorities are equal citizens of this country,” Imran Khan tweeted in February.
Protest in Karachi: In Karachi, the capital of Sindh province and where most of the country’s Hindus live, more than 200 people protested outside the Supreme Court, calling for justice.
“You must respect other people’s religion. We are Pakistanis, and for God’s sake, nobody needs to give us a certificate of loyalty”, said Mangla Sharma, a Hindu member of Sindh’s provincial assembly.
