Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police on Thursday said it has arrested more than 31 suspects and registered a case against 350 people for their alleged involvement in the vandalising of a Hindu temple in Karak district.
Karak DPO Irfanullah said JUI-F district leader Maulana Mirza Aqeem has also been nominated in the case. He added that the security officials are conducting raids to detain the suspects.
On Thursday, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed also took suo motu notice of the incident after a meeting with Pakistan Hindu Council patron in chief Dr Ramesh Kumar. The case will be heard in the apex court on January 5. The court has also sought a report from the National Commission of Minorities as well as police chief and chief secretary of the province by January 4.
Special Assistant to KP CM Mahmood Khan on Information Kamran Bangash said PM Imran Khan and provincial chief executive have condemned the incident. He said the Karak DPO and deputy commissioner have been directed to investigate the matter and submit a report. he said the provincial government would rebuild the temple, stressing that the culprits will be punished and rights of minorities protected.
According to police, a meeting of clerics was held at Shanki Adda in Teri, Karak before the attack. The enraged people were raising slogans vowing they would not permit any construction work of the shrine in the area.
The Samadhi (shrine) of Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj is considered sacred by the Hindu community. The Hindu devotees, especially from Sindh, used to visit it.
District Police Officer Irfanullah said an FIR was registered against two local clerics identified as Maulvi Sharif and Maulana Faizullah and several other unidentified persons. He said that the protesters were peaceful in the initial stage but on the provocation of some clerics, they turned violent and attacked the shrine.
However, the local clerics claimed that the Hindu community had given a contract for the expansion of the shrine to a local contractor which was not acceptable to the people. The speakers in the meeting claimed that they were ready to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court of the country wholeheartedly. The local people claimed that the Hindu community provided funds for the expansion of the shrine which was in violation of the court’s judgment.
Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri called the attack ‘a conspiracy against sectarian harmony’. He took to Twitter on Thursday, saying attacks on places of worship of minority religious groups are not allowed in Islam and “protection of religious freedom of minorities is our religious, constitutional, moral and national responsibility.”
Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Religious Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Thursday said some 31 culprits including the mastermind involved in Karak Hindu temple have been arrested. In a statement, he said he was in close contact with the Karak administration, local Hindu and Muslim leadership. “The elements involved in threatening non-Muslims could not be termed as true followers of Islam. The regrettable Karak temple attack would be thoroughly probed as this instance has maligned Pakistan in the world. The constitution guarantees complete protection to the minorities. The elements involved in temple attack have damaged the image of Islam and Pakistan,” he added.
He said he was planning to visit Karak along with the leadership of different religious scholars. He said Islam is the religion of peace, security, moderation and teachings of Quran-o-Sunnah has nothing to do with extremism and terrorism.
The controversy over the Samadhi of Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj erupted many decades ago. The Supreme Court had in 2015 ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to restore and reconstruct the Hindu shrine. The order was issued over a petition of MNA Kumar, who was at that time in PML-N and later joined PTI. He had claimed that the Samadhi of Shri Paramhans Mahraj had been occupied by an influential cleric of the area.
