Police arrested 14 people in overnight raids after a Hindu shrine was set on fire and severely damaged by a mob led by supporters of a cleric in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district, officials said on Thursday.
The temple’s destruction on Wednesday drew condemnation from human rights activists and the minority Hindu community.
Local police said they detained at least 14 people in overnight raids and more raids were underway to arrest individuals who participated or provoked the mob to demolish the shrine. The attack happened after members of the Hindu community received permission from local authorities to renovate the building. According to witnesses, the mob was led by a local cleric and supporters of a religious political party.
Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri called the attack “a conspiracy against sectarian harmony”. He took to Twitter on Thursday, saying attacks on minorities’ places of worship were not allowed in Islam. “Protection of religious freedom of minorities is our religious, constitutional, moral and national responsibility,” he wrote.
The incident comes weeks after the government allowed Hindu citizens to build a new temple in Islamabad on the recommendation of a council of clerics.Although Muslims and Hindus generally live peacefully together in Pakistan, there have been other attacks on Hindu places of worship in recent years.
Source: dawn.com
