Police personnel guard a Hindu temple in Karak, Pakistan, which was torched and demolished by a mob led by Islamists.
A century-old Hindu temple, which was vandalized and set ablaze by a furious mob of radical Islamists in northwest Pakistan last year, has been opened to devotees by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who asked the authorities to restore it. According to a media report, on Tuesday.
In December last year, the centuries-old Shri Param Hans Ji Maharaj temple in Teri village of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district was vandalized and demolished by a mob led by some local clerics of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Was.
Chief Justice Ahmed at the time ordered the authorities to rebuild the temple and directed them to recover funds for restoration work from the attackers, whose actions had caused “international embarrassment” to Pakistan.
Chief Justice Ahmed on Monday attended a grand function organized at the renovated temple to celebrate the Diwali festival and express solidarity with the members of the Hindu community, Express Tribune newspaper reported.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Chief Justice Ahmed said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has always taken steps to protect the rights of minorities and will continue to do so in future, the newspaper reported.
As per the constitution, Hindus have equal rights in Pakistan as people of other religions, he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Assuring that the Supreme Court will ensure protection of religious freedom to the minority communities of the country, he said that no one has the right to destroy or damage the religious place of worship of any other community.
The community presented a turban and a digital Quran to the Chief Justice. He was invited to the event by the Pakistan Hindu Parishad, which also hosted pilgrims from Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
The report said that Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, patron of Pakistan Hindu Parishad and member of the National Assembly, expressed his gratitude for the steps taken by the Chief Justice and the Supreme Court.
The report said Kumar, a senior leader of the ruling Tehreek-e-Insaf party headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan, said that if similar steps are taken for the inauguration of four other historic temples, it will help the country in the world. It will help in improving the image of
The reconstructed temple is associated with a saint, Shri Param Hans Ji Maharaj, in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the temple was founded in 1920.
Last month, the top court also ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government to recover USD 1,94,161 from the culprits involved in vandalizing the shrine.
As per the direction of the top court, more than 100 people involved in the incident were arrested.
In 1997, the temple was first attacked and severely damaged, and Vankwani had approached the apex court in 2015 seeking help to restore the holy place and resume the annual pilgrimage. .
The Pakistan Hindu Parishad started holding the annual fair in 2015, after the Supreme Court issued directions to the provincial government to restore and preserve the Teri temple.
Since the temple is being managed by local Hindu families, it is administratively under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province government and not under the control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board.
Hindus are the largest minority community in Pakistan. According to official estimates, there are 75 lakh Hindus living in the country.
Most of Pakistan’s Hindu population is settled in Sindh province where they share culture, tradition and language with Muslim residents. They often complain of harassment by extremists.
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