Despite all the hue and cry, the crime of kidnapping young Hindu girls to force them become Muslims to marry Muslim men goes on and so goes on destruction of Hindu temples to make them become shopping malls. Last month (July) two heinous crimes took place in Karachi within the space of about more than a week. The first incident of demolishing a 150 year old Hindu temple took place in Karachi’s Soldier Bazar under the very nose of the local police station.
In the second case three daughters of a Hindu businessman were kidnapped in Sindh’s Dhatki area. A leader of the Minority Right Group Shiva Kachhi said inspite of several pleas by his organization the kidnapping, forced conversion of Hindu girls and their forced marriage to Muslim men goes on. He said the police and authorities don’t help at all. It is said that after Seema Haider, a mother of four children ran away to India to join his Hindu boy friend Sachin, attacks on the Hindu community have increased. She had befriended Sachin online.
There is no logic in retaliating against Seema’s escape to India and against Hindus in Sindh. Did Pakistanis retaliate against Chinese in Pakistan when Pakistani girls ran away to China some years ago in search of suitable boys? Coming to the first incident, one hundred and fifty year old Hindu temple Mari Mata in soldier Bazaar was demolished with a bulldozer when the area was pitch dark because of no electricity. When the Hindus got up in the morning, they were shocked: there was no temple, only its boundary walls and gate were there. The residents said the police helped in the demolition. The Soldier Bazar Police station was just there.
Builders are always on loot for derelict Hindus places of worship, which after Hindus left what became Pakistan, became easy target for them because of the confusion about their ownership. For example, builders seem to be sure nobody will have ownership papers of the land (about 500 sq. yards) of Mari Mata temple. .
The Madrasi Hindu community manages the affairs of this temple. A member of the community said two persons were forcing them to vacate the temple. There was also talk the two had already sold the temple land for Rs. 70 million to a party which plans to build a commercial building there.
There is also a talk of a person possessing fake documents to allow transfer of lease. A place of worship is destroyed not merely for land grab but more so for blind hate. Thus it is not only Hindus’ temples, Christians’ Churches, ‘Ahmadiyyas’ places of worship but also Barelvis’ mosques by their fellow Sunni Deobandis we want to destroy or grab their mosques. Notably a Barelvi mosque is burnt together with the copies of holy Quran. No public protests are made.
Similarly, churches of Christians, whom they call Ahl-i-Kitab or the people of the same book are destroyed although the same God is worshipped there. During the 1965 war, Pakistani bombers wanted to target Ambala Cantt’s Military hospital but could not do so because the steeple of the Church came in the way of the bombers. Gen. Ayub Khan ordered the pilots to destroy the church. Pilots obeyed and the beautiful church was razed to ground in seconds.
Hindus and Buddhists, have given Pakistan a treasure of ancient temples which if developed as a tourist attraction can attract millions of tourists every year and remove the stigma of world beggar at the doors of non-Muslims in China, America and Europe. But Pakistan will have to first cross the seemingly impossible river of blind hate.
Pakistan is like a foolish man who slaughtered his hen who laid golden eggs every morning.
Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinion of the author.
