Pakistan SC orders for restoration of vandalized Hindu temple
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Islamabad, Jan 6: Pakistan Supreme Court has ordered the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Jan 5, to restore the Sri Paramhans Ji Maharaj’s Samadhi along with the Krishna Dwara Mandir in Teri village of Karak district in two weeks. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has called the incident to be an 'international embarrassment' to the country. The Supreme Court has also instructed authorities to recover the money for the restoration work from the attackers whose act has caused damage to the temples and to the reputation of the Islamic state.
A Hindu temple in Teri village of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Karak district was vandalized and set ablaze by hundreds of people on Dec 30, 2020. The members of radical Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party (Fazal ur Rehman group) are ehld to be responsible for the act. The Minority Lawmaker Ramesh Kumar had briefed the Pakistan Chief Justice about the temple being vandalized during their meeting in Karachi last week.
Followed after the meeting Pakistan's Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had said that the Supreme Court would hear the case on Jan 5. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Auqaf department have been directed to start the work immediately and submit a progress report in two weeks. CJ Ahmed has also observed that the people who vandalized the temple should pay for its restoration.
Following the incident, to which the Pakistani Judiciary has addressed as an international embarrassment, the court which took notice of the attack and ordered the local authorities to appear before the court on Jan 5, has also directed the Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB) to submit in court details of all functional and non-functional temples and Gurudwaras across Pakistan. The EPTB is a statutory board that manages religious properties and shrines of Hindus and Sikhs who had migrated to India following the partition.
Shoaib Suddle, the Head of a Commission on Minorities' rights had presented a comprehensive report in the case to the court on Jan 4, after the court asked him to probe the attack. He has also accused the EPTB for the incident stating that the provincial EPTB "did not protect the shrine."