‘Pre-Partition’ Hindu temple demolished in Karachi’s Lyari

KARACHI (HRNW)  The demolition of a temple in Karachi’s Lyari on August 16 has stirred controversy as local Hindus say it was a pre-Partition building. The police have sealed the site and the local administration is now conducting an investigation.

“The Hanuman temple dated back almost 200 years and was a worship place for several families living in the neighbourhood,” Pakistan Hindu Council Patron-in-Chief and MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said.

Late Sunday night the temple was demolished and the idols within were destroyed by a group of men, he told SAMAA Digital. Next morning, dozens of Hindu families living nearby gathered in the narrow Fida Hussain Sheikh Road where the temple was located. According to Vankwani, the temple had been reduced to a pile of bricks.

“The actual problem is that the Hindu community is considered to be beyaar o madadgar [helpless],” he said. “People think that since we are minorities, anyone can easily walk over us or take over our land.”