Pak radicals destroy Sindh's Hinglaj Mata Mandir; 11th attack on Hindu temple in last 22 months

Sindh, Jan 26: In yet another destruction of Hindu temple in Pakistan, the Islamist radicals demolished Hinglaj Mata Mandir, located in Khatri Mohalla, Teh Mithi, Tharparker district of Sindh province. This is the 11th attack on Hindu shrines in the past 22 months in Pakistan.

 

 

Krishen Sharma, President, Pakistan Hindu Mandir Management reached the spot and in interaction with media told them that Islamist radicals are not even afraid of Pakistan Supreme Court and the Pakistani Government. Meanwhile, the local Hindu leaders took out a protest rally on the issue. Notably, Pakistan has been repeatedly slammed by the international community for not taking stringent measures to protect its minority communities, despite the country's Prime Minister Imran Khan vowing to protect them on numerous occasions.

 

 

In 2020 December, a mob of over a hundred people led by local Muslim clerics had destroyed and set on fire the temple in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A video clip that went viral on social media showed a violent mob destroying the walls and roof of the temple. Pakistan is a well-known perpetrator of human rights violations of minorities in the country. On several occasions, it has promised to safeguard the interest of minority communities in the nation. However, continuing attacks on minorities narrate a different story.

 

 

Islamabad has been discriminating against its religious minorities. This is manifested in various forms of targeted violence, mass murders, extrajudicial killings, abduction, rapes, forced conversion to Islam, etc., making Pakistani Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadiyyas, and Shias the most persecuted minorities in the region.

 

A recent report by a minorities' rights commission in Pakistan has revealed a "dismal" picture of the most revered Hindu sites in the country and slammed the statutory board responsible to maintain the ancient sites of the minority community. The report submitted to the country's Supreme Court last month presents a "general picture of decay and obliteration" of two of the four most revered evacuee sites in Pakistan, Dawn reported.

 

 

The report states that the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), a statutory board of the Pakistan government, has failed to maintain ancient and holy sites of the minority community. Out of 365 temples, only 13 were being managed by them, leaving 65 with the Hindu community, and "abandoning the rest of temples," Dawn reported, citing the statutory board ETPB