Demolition of Hindu esteem
Sunita Vakil
Pakistan has again thrown the gauntlet at India by demolishing the only Hindu temple in Lahore. However, this was not the first instance of minority bashing in that single religion-based country. Minorities, especially Hindus, continue to be hounded in both Pakistan and Bangladesh. The latest atrocity is but one more example of religious persecution of this marginalised community in an Islamic nation.
Incredibly, the temple at Sarafa Bazaar in Lahore's Rang Mahal area was ordered to be demolished by the very civic body that is meant to protect the properties of minorities, namely, Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board. The body also manages Sikh shrines in coordination with Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. Incidentally, this was not the first time that ETPB permitted the demolition of a temple. Last year, it had sanctioned the razing of a Hindu shrine at Vehari in Punjab. This indicates that the nefarious gameplan of targeting religious bastions of Hindus has the wholehearted approval of the Pakistan Government.
What is more puzzling is the fact that while there were massive demonstrations against the demolition of the disputed Babri Masjid, Gujarat riots and relocation of a Muslim shrine in Vadodara, no 'secular' party worth its name made even a whimper of protest when the Hindu shrine was razed in Pakistan.
Considering the Congress's obsession with Muslim vote-bank, on account of which it is granting them quotas and concessions on a platter, it would seem a waste of effort to comment on its endeavour of joining issues with Hindus. In fact, nothing can be expected of a party that cannot differentiate between secularism and minorityism.
The feedback from the Left has been similar. While the UPA's attitude is understandable, an inaction of the BJP on such issues is even more baffling. But across the border, while most Pakistani newspapers have criticised the demolition, there was no protest either from the political parties or the so-called secular media in this country.
There have been reports that the facts about the property were concealed from the authorities who had no inkling that they had given the go ahead for razing a temple in order to build a commercial complex. If this is true, the Pakistan Government should make all efforts to restore the Hindu shrine at the earliest.
Pakistan has again thrown the gauntlet at India by demolishing the only Hindu temple in Lahore. However, this was not the first instance of minority bashing in that single religion-based country. Minorities, especially Hindus, continue to be hounded in both Pakistan and Bangladesh. The latest atrocity is but one more example of religious persecution of this marginalised community in an Islamic nation.
Incredibly, the temple at Sarafa Bazaar in Lahore's Rang Mahal area was ordered to be demolished by the very civic body that is meant to protect the properties of minorities, namely, Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board. The body also manages Sikh shrines in coordination with Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. Incidentally, this was not the first time that ETPB permitted the demolition of a temple. Last year, it had sanctioned the razing of a Hindu shrine at Vehari in Punjab. This indicates that the nefarious gameplan of targeting religious bastions of Hindus has the wholehearted approval of the Pakistan Government.
What is more puzzling is the fact that while there were massive demonstrations against the demolition of the disputed Babri Masjid, Gujarat riots and relocation of a Muslim shrine in Vadodara, no 'secular' party worth its name made even a whimper of protest when the Hindu shrine was razed in Pakistan.
Considering the Congress's obsession with Muslim vote-bank, on account of which it is granting them quotas and concessions on a platter, it would seem a waste of effort to comment on its endeavour of joining issues with Hindus. In fact, nothing can be expected of a party that cannot differentiate between secularism and minorityism.
The feedback from the Left has been similar. While the UPA's attitude is understandable, an inaction of the BJP on such issues is even more baffling. But across the border, while most Pakistani newspapers have criticised the demolition, there was no protest either from the political parties or the so-called secular media in this country.
There have been reports that the facts about the property were concealed from the authorities who had no inkling that they had given the go ahead for razing a temple in order to build a commercial complex. If this is true, the Pakistan Government should make all efforts to restore the Hindu shrine at the earliest.
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Hindu Students Council Condemns Destruction of Hindu Temple in Pakistan
2006-07-01 Published by Hindunet Gathered by Internet Desk - Hindunet
USA, June 27, 2006: The Hindu Students Council strongly denounces the destruction of the last surviving Hindu temple in Lahore, Pakistan. On May 27, 2006, the Pakistani government authorities worked in tandem with a local jeweler to fully demolish the ancient Krishna temple in the Rang Mahal area of Lahore city so a commercial plaza could be built in its place. With its destruction, there remains no trace of any Hindu temple in the ancient city of Lahore, which until 1947 boasted hundreds of Hindu temples and a Hindu-majority population. This calculated obliteration leaves the vulnerable Hindu population of Lahore stranded in a violent Punjab province full of hostile Islamic fundamentalists, without a single Hindu temple to fulfill their spiritual and religious needs.
When the neighboring Indian government protested the destruction of the only functional Hindu temple in Lahore, the Pakistani government exhibited brazen mendacity by denying that the demolition ever took place. Pakistan's Federal Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq and the EPTB Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Zulfikar Ali Khan claimed that the temple was intact. However, the insidious role of the Pakistani government was exposed by the Karachi-based "Dawn" newspaper in its May 28 and June 13 editions, which included photographs of the demolished ruins of the Krishna temple and details of the government's desire to demolish the temple for the past 6 months.
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