Pakistan: Hindu temple vandalized and idols desecrated, third incident in a month

The sufferings of religious minorities in Pakistan continue to persist as there have been incidents of violence against the minorities, abduction of girls from the minority community, forceful conversions, or the vandalism of religious institutions have been reported frequently. One such incident was reported on Monday, November 2 as an ancient Hindu temple was vandalised in Pakistan's Karachi. The Hindu Gods & relics mounted in the temple were desecrated and found to be in damaged condition.

This attack comes just days after the two incidents of vandalism in October (October 10 and October 24 ) of Hindu temples in Pakistan's Sindh province, one person was said to be arrested in connection with the October 10 incident, according to a PTI report. These are just a few of the many attacks reported on the religious minorities in Pakistan.

In May this year an incident had come to light where a colony of a minority Hindu community in Bhawalpur was demolished The demolition exercise was carried out under the watch of Tariq Bashir Cheema, the Housing Minister in the Imran Khan cabinet, and the country's Principal Information Officer Shahid Khokhar, ANI reported. A video of the incident was said to be making the rounds on the internet.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had condemned the razing of houses of people from the Hindu and Christian communities in Punjab province's Bahawalpur city, ANI reported.

"HRCP is gravely concerned at reports that houses belonging to the Hindu and Christian communities of Yazman in Bahawalpur have been demolished, allegedly by local authorities with political influence," HRCP had then said in a tweet according to ANI.

Another incident was reported in January this year where a Hindu Temple was vandalised in Sindh province and the goddess idol was desecrated.

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Nankana Sahib attack

Besides the Hindu community, Sikhs in Pakistan have also been targeted regularly as there had been attacks on Gurudwaras in Pakistan or many a times, their daughters have also been abducted and allegedly married off to a person of Muslim community. On January 4 this year, the revered Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and nearby residences of local Sikhs were attacked by a violent mob of around 400 Muslims with stones. Reports stated that the attack was perpetrated after the Sikh community raised objection against the alleged forced marriage of a girl from their community to a person belonging to the Muslim community. There have been many such incidents reported about the abduction of Hindu, Sikh, or Christian girls to be forcefully married off to a person of the majority community.

The persecution of religious minorities has been manifested in various forms of targeted violence, mass murders, extrajudicial killings, abduction, rapes, forced conversion, etc. Pakistani Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadiyyas, and Shias have been the most persecuted minorities in Pakistan which have suffered religious hatred at the hands of the majority.

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