Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has ordered the immediate reconstruction of the Krishna Dwara temple in Karak.
He said his provincial government must ensure the construction work is started quickly. We will protect the places of worship of minorities, he vowed.
The historic Hindu temple was set ablaze on December 30 by hundreds of residents. The temple is located in Karak’s Teri union council.
The miscreants surrounded and vandalised the temple for hours but the police were missing from the scene.
Several people involved in the crime have been arrested, confirmed CM Khan. On Thursday 31 people were arrested for setting fire to the temple.
KP IG Sanaullah Abbasi told reporters in Karak that at least 300 people have been nominated in the FIR. Thirty-one were arrested while others are being identified with the help of video footage.
The Krishna Dwara temple attack was led by cleric Maulana Muhammad Sharif, who is an active member of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F according to sources. He surrendered to the police Thursday evening.
In July 1919, Guru Shri Paramhans Dayal was laid to rest at the site and a temple was built there. Muslim residents of the area closed the temple after Partition in 1947.
In 2015, the Krishna Dwara temple was restored on the orders of the Supreme Court.
Hindus and Muslims signed an agreement on December 22 agreeing that the renovation of the temple would not exceed the specified area.
Advocate Rohit Kumar, a representative of the Hindu community, said the residents violated the agreement by vandalising the temple.
But Muslim residents of the area claimed that the Hindu community was illegally expanding the temple building. They said the matter had been reported to the police.
Residents said the police’s failure to intervene angered the public who later vandalised the temple.
A large contingent of police reached the site after several hours and brought the situation under control.
Minister condemns attack
Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari condemned the attack.
“The KP government must ensure culprits are brought to justice. The Ministry of Human Rights is also moving on this,” she said on Twitter.
“We as a government have a responsibility to ensure safety and security of all our citizens and their places of worship.”
Desecration of Hindu temples and scriptures in the past
This isn’t the first time places of worship belonging to the Hindu community have been desecrated in Pakistan.
In October, a group of men vandalised idols at a temple in Sindh’s Nagarparkar. A suspect arrested later told the police he had done it for money.
A pre-Partition Hindu temple was demolished in Karachi’s Lyari on August 16. “The Hanuman temple dated back almost 200 years and was a worship place for several families living in the neighbourhood,” Pakistan Hindu Council Patron-in-Chief and MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said at the time.
In February 2019, an arson attack on a Hindu temple had spread unrest in Kumb in Sindh’s Khairpur district. Unidentified people had entered the Sham Sundar Shewa Mandli temple and set fire to three sacred books and idols.
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