Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party founder Altaf Hussain has strongly condemned the attack and vandalism on a Hindu temple in district Rahim Yar Khan of Punjab province of Pakistan.
In a statement issued on Twitter, Hussain, who has been living in exile in Great Britain, said that a few days ago, the place of worship of "Ahmadis" was desecrated in Faisalabad city of Punjab province.
Now a mob of extremist elements attacked a "Hindu" Temple (Ganesh Temple) was attacked and ravaged in a village "Bhong" in the district "Rahim Yar Khan" of Punjab province.
Idols were desecrated and posters of gods and goddesses were burnt by extremist elements.
Altaf Hussain strongly condemned this incident and said that this is an "unacceptable, un-Islamic, inhumane, immoral, unethical and unconstitutional act of vandalism".
Hussain said all these religious extremists groups are the creation of the Pakistan Army and its intelligence agency--ISI. He said these groups were taught to hate and destroy non-Muslim places of worship in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan has become the death place for all non-Muslim minorities and other oppressed nations of Pakistan.
A frenetic mob attacked a Hindu temple in Bhong city in Rahim Yar Khan district of Pakistan on Wednesday. Pakistani lawmaker and Hindu community leader Ramesh Kumar Vankwani shared videos of the incident.
In one of the videos, the mob can be seen destroying the infrastructure of the temple.
The mob vandalised the temple and broke idols and temple structures.
Meanwhile, India has summoned Pakistan charge d'affaires and lodged a strong protest on the attack on the Hindu temple in Pakistan's Punjab province.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday that Pakistani charge d'affaires was summoned and a firm protest was lodged "expressing our grave concerns at this reprehensible incident and the continued attacks on the freedom of religion of the minority community and their places of religious worship".
India called upon Pakistan to ensure the safety, security and well-being of its minority communities.
In recent years, there has been a surge in attacks on the place of worship of religious minorities in Pakistan. The country has been repeatedly slammed by the international community for not safeguarding the interest of its minorities.
Last year in December, a mob of over a hundred people led by local Muslim clerics had destroyed and set on fire the temple in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A video clip that went viral on social media showed a violent mob destroying the walls and roof of the temple.
A recent report by a minorities' rights commission in Pakistan has revealed a "dismal" picture of the most revered Hindu sites in the country.
The report submitted to the country's Supreme Court in April presents a "general picture of decay and obliteration" of two of the four most revered evacuee sites in Pakistan, Dawn reported.
The report states that the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), a statutory board of the Pakistan government, has failed to maintain ancient and holy sites of the minority community.
Out of 365 temples, only 13 were being managed by them, leaving 65 with the Hindu community, and "abandoning the rest of temples," Dawn reported, citing the statutory board ETPB.
Pakistan has been discriminating against its religious minorities, which is manifested in various forms of targeted violence, mass murders, extrajudicial killings, abduction, rapes, forced conversion to Islam, etc., making the Pakistani Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadiyyas, and Shias one of the most persecuted minorities in the region.
The 2020 report International Religious Freedom released by the United States earlier this year highlighted a downward spiral of religious expression in Pakistan, most notably in the form of blasphemy laws, punishment for which ranges up to the death penalty.
( With inputs from ANI )
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