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Pakistani police have arrested over 30 folks, most of them belonging to a radical Islamist occasion, after a Hindu temple was vandalised and set on fireplace by a mob protesting its renovation in northwest Pakistan.
IMAGE: This {photograph} of Gorakhnath temple in Khyber Pakhtunwa is used just for representational goal. Photograph: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
A central chief of radical Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam occasion, Rehmat Salam Khattak, is amongst these arrested in police raids following the assault on Terri temple and Samadhi of Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj in Karak space of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday, police mentioned.
The mob, led by some native clerics and the supporters of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam occasion (Fazal ur Rehman group), protesting the enlargement work of the shrine, demolished the newly constructed work alongside the previous construction.
Over 350 folks have been named within the FIR, Provincial Police Chief KPK Sanaullah Abbasi has mentioned.
The Samadhi of Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj is taken into account very sacred by the minority Hindu neighborhood in Pakistan. It is devoted to Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj and was constructed the place he died in 1919 in Teri village of Karak.
The controversy over the Samadhi of Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj erupted many many years in the past.
According to the small print submitted to the Supreme Court in 2014 in a case about it, the Hindus had been visiting the shrine until 1997 when it was dismantled by the locals.
The Supreme Court in 2014 ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa authorities to revive and reconstruct the Hindu shrine.
The order was issued over a petition of a Hindu lawmaker who had claimed that the shrine had been occupied by an influential cleric of the realm.
According to police officers, a gathering of clerics was held at Shanki Adda in Teri, Karak earlier than the assault.
The enraged folks had been elevating slogans, vowing they’d not allow any building work on the shrine.
The protesters had been peaceable within the preliminary stage however on the provocation of some clerics, they turned violent and attacked the shrine, police mentioned.
Meanwhile, the nation’s Supreme Court on Thursday took discover of the assault on the temple and ordered the native authorities to look earlier than the court docket on January 5.
According to a press release by the highest court docket, Hindu lawmaker and chief of Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, known as on Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed in Karachi to debate the difficulty.
“The chief justice of Pakistan showed grave concern over the tragic incident and informed the member of parliament that he has already taken cognisance of the issue and has fixed the matter before court on January 5, at Islamabad,” in keeping with the assertion.
The court docket has issued instructions to one-man Commission on Minorities Rights, KP chief secretary and KP inspector basic of police to go to the positioning and submit a report on January 4.
The incident drew condemnation from some Pakistani leaders, human rights activists and the minority Hindu neighborhood.
Religious Affairs Minister Noorul Haq Qadri termed the destruction of the temple in opposition to the educating of Islam.
He mentioned that the structure of the nation ensures safety of non secular locations of minorities.
Pakistan’s federal Parliamentary Secretary for Human Rights Lal Chand Malhi strongly condemned the assault on the temple.
Noting that some teams are lively in finishing up such anti-social actions to defame Pakistan, Malhi mentioned the federal government is not going to tolerate such incidents.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan termed the assault on the temple as “an unfortunate incident.”
He ordered speedy arrest of these concerned within the incident.
Khan vowed that his authorities will shield worship locations from such incidents.
Leader of Hindu Community Peshawar Haroon Sarab Diyal mentioned the incident has damage the feelings of the Hindu neighborhood and the Islamic Ideology Council ought to be aware of it.
Diyal mentioned Prime Minister Imran Khan talks about promotion of non secular tourism in Pakistan however minority worship locations weren’t protected in his personal nation.
Hindus kind the largest minority neighborhood in Pakistan.
According to official estimates, 75 lakh Hindus dwell in Pakistan.
However, in keeping with the neighborhood, over 90 lakh Hindus live within the nation.
The majority of Pakistan’s Hindu inhabitants is settled in Sindh province the place they share tradition, traditions and language with Muslim residents.
They usually complain of harassment by the extremists.
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