Mob demolishes temple in Pakistan

Police detain several people over their involvement in the attack

December 31, 2020 06:13 am | Updated 07:50 am IST - Peshawar

Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari. File photo

Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari. File photo

A mob led by members of Pakistan''s radical Islamist party demolished a temple after setting it on fire in a deeply conservative northwestern town, a senior police official said.

The incident in the town of Karak drew condemnation from human rights activists and Pakistan''s Minister for Human Rights, Shireen Mazari.

Mazari on Wednesday took to Twitter to condemn the burning of the temple and urged law enforcement officials to ensure the arrest of those involved.

District police chief Irfan Ullah said police detained several people over their involvement in the attack on the temple.

Witnesses said the mob, led by activists and local leaders of the radical Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, attacked the temple after local Hindus received permission from authorities to renovate it.

The incident comes weeks after the government allowed minority Hindus to build a new temple in Islamabad on the recommendation of a council of clerics.

In Pakistan, there have been other attacks on temples in recent years.

Most of the Pakistan''s minority Hindus migrated to India in 1947 when India was divided by Britain''s government.

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