JUL 17, 2023 : In Karachi, the provincial capital of Pakistan‘s Sindh province, a Hindu temple that was said to have been constructed over 150 years ago was demolished after being deemed an ancient and unsafe construction, shocking the Hindu community.
Bulldozers demolished the Mari Mata Temple in Soldier Bazar, Karachi, late on Friday night while a sizable police presence watched on.
Ram Nath Mishra Maharaj, who is in charge of maintaining several ancient Hindu temples in the region, claimed that “they (authorities) did it very early in the morning and we were not informed this was going to happen.”
The main gate and the exterior walls of the adjoining Shri Punch Mukhi Hanuman Mandir were left unharmed by the bulldozers, according to Mishra, the temple’s keeper, but the whole interior was destroyed.
The temple, according to Mishra, was constructed about 150 years ago, and legend has claimed that there is riches buried beneath its courtyard.
He claimed that land speculators and developers had been after the temple, which was 400 to 500 square yards in size, for years.
According to a senior police officer at the neighbourhood police station, the temple was destroyed because officials had deemed it an unsafe construction.
He claimed that the Karachi Madrasi Hindu community, which runs the temple, has acknowledged the building’s extreme age and danger.
Until they could complete some renovations there, the temple administration regrettably but temporarily relocated the majority of the deities to a small room, he continued.
Ramesh, a local Hindu community leader, claimed that the temple administration had been under pressure to leave the property for some time because the land had been sold to a developer using fake documents who intended to erect a commercial structure there.
The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, and the Inspector General of Sindh Police have all been requested by the Hindu community to take notice of the situation and conduct an expedient investigation.
There are numerous historic Hindu Mandirs in Karachi.
The largest minority group in Pakistan is the Hindus.
Hindus make up the majority of the population of Sindh province, where they coexist peacefully alongside Muslims and share a same language and culture.
