Century-old temple demolished in Pakistan for madrasa

A nearly 125-year-old historic Hindu temple has been demolished in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province allegedly to expand the premises of a madrasa. Minority organizations and rights activists of the country have strongly condemned the incident and demanded a proper investigation.

Local residents, minority organizations and a political party have demanded reconstruction of this nearly 125-year-old religious place of worship and eviction of illegal occupants from its land from the Shehbaz Sharif government.

A news agency report said a group of fanatics, who are members of the banned hardline Islamic party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), demolished the temple on August 21 with the aim of expanding an adjacent madrasa.

However, the Pakistan government has claimed that the 100 to 125-year-old temple collapsed due to heavy rain in the area.

This ancient temple is located in Siraj village of Narowal district, about 130 kilometres from Lahore, on nearly 1,000 square metres of land.

Chairman of the minority rights-based political party Pakistan Masiha Millat Party (PMMP) Aslam Parvez Sahotra has called upon the government led by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif to take strict action against those involved and reconstruct the temple.

Sahotra said he met the Additional Home Secretary of Punjab on August 28 and submitted an application. There he demanded legal action against the accused as well as action against the officials responsible who failed to protect the temple.

He further alleged that after the temple was demolished, the metal part of its spire, bricks and other construction materials were also removed.

Sahotra said, “The government agency Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) had earlier leased the land adjacent to the temple for the madrasa. However, the lease was later cancelled due to years of unpaid rent and not using the land for the designated purpose.”

Citing a report of the revenue department, Sahotra claimed that several persons have illegally occupied the temple quarters and other parts.

He alleged that although the Sialkot office of ETPB directed the eviction of illegal occupants and sealing of the property on January 29, it was not implemented.

Sahotra has demanded reconstruction of the temple in its original form and assurance of protection of Hindu temples, Sikh gurdwaras and Christian churches across Punjab.

Meanwhile, strongly condemning the destruction of this ancient temple, Hindu community leader Ratan Lal said, “The district administration and ETPB failed to take adequate steps to protect the site or remove the occupants, the ultimate result of which made it possible to destroy the temple.”

Ratan Lal, a member of the Narowal District Peace Committee and Pak Dharma Asthan Hindu Committee, claimed that local Hindu committee members are afraid to even go to the site due to the madrasa operating in the premises.

However, the government’s statement is completely opposite to the allegations of the protesters. Senior official of the government agency ETPB Rana Iftikhar told the news agency, “The temple was about 100 to 125 years old and it collapsed due to torrential rain.”

He said, “There is no name of the temple in our records. But it was a very old structure.”

Although a police report of April 11 shows that the local police were already aware of the security risks related to the temple and the apprehension of it being damaged.

Iftikhar admitted that the land adjacent to the temple was leased for the madrasa. However, he claimed, “The main land of the temple was not leased to anyone.”

He said senior officials of their office will take the final decision regarding the reconstruction of the temple.