Start reconstruction of vandalised Hindu temple within two weeks: Pakistan Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday gave authorities two weeks to start the reconstruction of the Hindu temple demolished by a mob in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Karak. The temple was demolished and set on fire by hundreds of people on December 30.

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The court directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Auqaf department to start the work immediately and submit a progress report in two weeks. Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed said that the people, who vandalised the temple, should pay for its restoration.

A central leader of radical Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, Rehmat Salam Khattak, is among those arrested in police raids following the attack on Terri temple and Samadhi of Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj in Karak area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Wednesday, police said.

The mob, led by some local clerics and the supporters of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party (Fazal ur Rehman group), protesting the expansion work of the shrine, demolished the newly constructed work alongside the old structure.

Over 350 people have been named in the FIR, Provincial Police Chief KPK Sanaullah Abbasi has said. The Samadhi of Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj is considered very sacred by the minority Hindu community in Pakistan. It is dedicated to Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj and was built where he died in 1919 in Teri village of Karak.

On Sunday, Members of the minority communities held a protest outside the Peshawar Press Club against the demolition of Hindu temple in Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province demanding government to take action against the police officials for not taking measures to prevent the attack.

(With inputs from agencies)