A century-old temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, was vandalized by members of a radical party on December 30.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to start the reconstruction of a century-old Hindu place of worship in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that was vandalized and set on fire by a mob last week. It stated that the incident has caused “international embarrassment” to the country.
The century-old Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj’s Samdhi in Terri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Karak district was vandalized, allegedly by members of the radical Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party (Fazal ur Rehman group) on December 30. According to a PTI agency report, witnesses said that the mob demolished the temple after members of the Hindu community obtained permission from local authorities to renovate the decade-old building.
During the hearing, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed ordered the EPTB to clear the encroachment from temples across the country and take action against officials involved in the encroachment.
The Pakistan newspaper Dawn reported that the apex court who noticed the attack summoned the local authorities to appear before the court on January 5. It also directed the board to submit in court details of all functional and non-functional temples and gurudwaras across Pakistan.
The incident has drawn strong criticism from human rights activists and minority Hindu community leaders in Pakistan.
A tweeted video shows the vandalization:
