Videos circulating on social media showed men using hammers to damage the temple after a speech by Muslim leaders.
Hundreds of Muslims attacked and set fire to a Hindu temple in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, police and witnesses said.
Videos circulating on social media showed men using hammers to damage the temple’s walls as thick gray smoke rose from the site.
The incident took place in a remote village in the Karak district, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern province of Khyber Pakthunkhwa.
“Local Muslim clerics incited an accused mob of between 1,000 and 1,200 people to destroy the Hindu temple,” district police chief Irfanullah Khan told AFP news agency.
Discrimination and violence against religious minorities is common in Pakistan, where Muslims make up 97 percent of the population and Hindus only about 2 percent.
Earlier this month, the United States included Pakistan on a list of “countries of special concern” for violations of religious freedom.
Khan said resentment towards the temple, which was not in regular use, has been brewing for years, particularly after recent renovation work was carried out.
“The police have registered a case against about 20 people and with the help of videos, we will search for more culprits,” Khan added.
Kamran Bangash, the provincial information minister, also confirmed to AFP the attack and the veracity of the videos seen on social media.
“We believe in freedom of religion and those who participated will not be saved,” Bangash said.
Local resident Sulaman Khattak told AFP that the crowd marched towards the temple after Muslim leaders addressed them.
“They were prepared, some were carrying hammers and oil drums,” Khattak told AFP.
“We will organize a protest before the Supreme Court against the attack on our temple, which is one of the four largest holy places of the Hindu community in Pakistan,” said Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, legislator of the ruling party and head of the Hindu Council of Pakistan. he told the dpa news agency.
Vankwani added that Pakistan was already “facing pressure in terms of religious freedom and minority rights, therefore such acts of extremism must be repressed at all costs.”
The country’s human rights minister, Shireen Mazari, said the government has a responsibility to “ensure the safety of all our citizens and their places of worship.”
Mazari said local authorities had recorded the incident and “further action is being taken.”
Strongly condemn the burning of a Hindu temple by a mob in Karak Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. The KP government must ensure that the culprits are brought to justice. MOHR is also making progress on this. We, as a government, have a responsibility to ensure the safety of all our citizens and their places of worship.
– Shireen Mazari (@ ShireenMazari1) December 30, 2020
The temple was vandalized and demolished in 1997 but, in 2015, the Supreme
Court ordered its restoration.
Pakistan has an estimated eight million Hindus, most of whom are based in the southern province of Sindh, near the border with India.
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