The Pakistani police have arrested 55 more individuals in connection with the attack on the Hindu temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bringing the total number of arrests relating to the incident to over 100. Amongst those arrested was Rehmat Salam Khattak, the leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, the radical Islamist party that orchestrated the attack on a Hindu temple in the Terri village on Wednesday.
This temple is specifically important for the Hindu community in the region as it is has been built where Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj, a prominent Hindu leader of the village, had died in 1919. However, since the Partition, there were no religious services conducted in the temple. While, until 1997, members of the Hindu community continued to visit the shrine, following its dismantling by locals, this, too, was discontinued. Thereafter, in 2014, a Hindu lawmaker filed a petition before the Supreme Court protesting the occupation of the temple by a popular Islamic cleric. Consequently, in 2015, the Pakistani Supreme Court passed a judgement reinstating the ownership of the temple to the Hindu community. Following this, the local Hindu community had acquired approval from local authorities for the reconstruction and expansion of the building.
However, on Wednesday, a mob of over 1500 people, which was led by religious clerics and supporters of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, attacked, set on fire, and brought down the old building and the newly constructed structures. Several videos of the attack were circulated on social media, instigating an FIR against around 350 people. Following the attack, several human rights activists and Pakistani leaders of the country’s Hindu minority community expressed their strong condemnation.
India, Pakistan’s age-old rival, which also has a significantly large Hindu majority, lodged a formal protest with Pakistan and has called for expeditious and strict action to be taken against those responsible for the attack. The India Ministry of External Affairs also conveyed its “serious concerns” to the Pakistani High Commission, specifically in light of the “repeated instanced of similar nature, of atrocities against the members of the minority community.”
In response to the barrage of criticism that the incident attracted, the Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Mahmood Khan, said that regional government would ensure the expeditious reconstruction of the structure. The Chief Minister Secretariat also issued a notification on Saturday announcing the setting up of a four-member committee to looking into the nature of the damage done and to oversee the reconstruction plan. The Pakistani Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, Gulzar Ahmad, further passed directions to the One Man Commission on Minorities Rights to present a detailed report on the incident.
Pakistan houses over nine million Hindus, making it the largest minority community in the country. Over the past few years, the community has raised several complaints about harassment by extremists.
Pakistan Arrests Hundreds Over Hindu Temple Attack
Following an attack on a Hindu temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last Wednesday, Pakistani police have arrested over 100 individuals over their alleged involvement in the incident.
January 4, 2021
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS