India on Thursday summoned the Pakistani Chargé d’Affaires to protest the mob attack on a Hindu temple in Pakistan’s Punjab province a day earlier. Indian officials have also urged Pakistani authorities to take appropriate action to protect minorities in their country.
On Wednesday, a mob burned down parts of a Hindu temple and damaged several idols in the Bhong town of Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan’s Punjab province amid rising communal tensions. The PTI reported that “an eight-year-old Hindu boy last week allegedly urinated at a library of the seminary in the area that caused tensions in Bhong, where Muslims and Hindus have been living peacefully for decades.” The minor was released on bail on Wednesday, resulting in violence in the area.
The Pakistani Rangers were brought in after the police failed to control the situation. Authorities said that police forces were deployed to deter any more incidents of violence in the area, where almost 100 Hindu families reside.
Condemning the incident, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, highlighted that the Pakistani authorities “completely failed” to protect religious minorities in the country, adding that the attacks were “reprehensible.” He said, “In addition to attacking the temple, surrounding houses belonging to the Hindu community were also attacked. Incidents of violence, discrimination and persecution against minority communities, including attacks on places of worship, have continued unabated in Pakistan.”
He added that Pakistani authorities have often turned a blind eye to the need to protect these institutions and places of worship. Furthermore, Bagchi said the Indian side summoned the Pakistani Chargé d’Affaires following the attack and communicated their “grave concern at this reprehensible incident and the continued attacks on the freedom of religion of the minority community and protection of their places of worship.”
Pakistani authorities claim to have taken cognisance of the attack and vowed to take action against the miscreants expeditiously. The District Police Officer (DPO), Rahim Yar Khan Asad Sarfraz, said protecting the minority community was their “first priority.” The Pakistani Supreme Court has also expressed “grave concern over the tragic incident.” In a press release, the court stated, “Taking cognisance of the issue, the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan has fixed the matter before the court on Friday at Islamabad with the directions to Chief Secretary Punjab and IGP Punjab to appear along with their report.”
Attacks on minorities have been on the rise in Pakistan. This year, several places of worship of Hindus and Sikhs were attacked, including the January 2020 attack on the Mata Rani Bhatiyani Mandir and Gurdwara Sri Janamsthan and the December 2020 attack on the Hindu Temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The recent attack is a blow to the already vulnerable minorities in the country.
India Protests Vandalisation of Hindu Temple in Pakistan’s Punjab Province
India has summoned the Pakistani envoy to protest the vandalisation of a Hindu temple by a mob in Pakistan.
August 6, 2021
SOURCE: ANI