A Hindu temple was attacked with rocket launchers by a gang of dacoits in Sindh’s Kashmore district on Sunday, hours after miscreants demolished a historic temple in Karachi.
In Kashmore, the assailants attacked the small temple and adjoining homes belonging to Hindus in the early hours of Sunday.
Kashmore-Kandhkot police chief Irfan Sammo said the dacoits fired “rocket launchers” at the place of worship, which was closed during the attack. He added that the temple opens annually for religious services conducted by the Bagri community.
“The attack happened in the early hours of Sunday. They fired indiscriminately and fled when a police party reached the spot. We are conducting a search operation in the area,” Samoo said.
The police officer estimated that eight or nine gunmen were involved in the attack.
Dr Suresh, a member of the Bagri community, said that the “rocket launchers” fired by the dacoits failed to explode, resulting in no loss of life.
He called on the police to protect the community, saying the incident had left the residents in a state of panic.
SSP Samoo assured the Hindu community members they would be protected.
The Kashmore area has a sizeable Hindu population.
The attack comes days after dacoits in the Kashmore and Ghotki riverine areas had threatened to attack Hindu places of worship and community members in retaliation to Seema Haider Jakhrani’s PUBG love story.
Seema, a Pakistani mother of four, left her country and entered India to live with a Hindu man she befriended and fell in love with while playing on the online gaming platform PUBG in 2019.
Seema, 30, and Sachin Meena, 22, live in the Rabupura area of Greater Noida, near Delhi, where he runs a provision store, according to Uttar Pradesh Police.
While Seema was arrested on July 4 for illegally entering India without a visa via Nepal with her four children, all aged below seven years, Sachin was put behind bars for sheltering the illegal immigrants. They were released from jail recently.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said it was alarmed by reports of “deteriorating law and order in the districts of Kashmore and Ghotki in Sindh, where some 30 members of the Hindu community — including women and children — have allegedly been held hostage by organised criminal gangs”.
“Moreover, we have received disturbing reports that these gangs have threatened to attack the community’s sites of worship, using high-grade weapons,” the commission said.
It called on the Sindh Home Department to investigate the matter without delay.
TEMPLE DEMOLISHED IN KARACHI
On Saturday, miscreants demolished Mari Mata temple while there was no electricity in the area.
Local residents said diggers and bulldozers razed the entire structure, leaving the outer walls and the main gate intact.
Residents alleged that police vehicles were present in and around Mari Mata temple to provide “cover” to those operating the machines and demolishing the Hindu temple.
“The temple is said to have been built over 150 years ago. It covered about 400 to 500 square yards and there had been talk of land grabbers having their eye on it,” Ram Nath Mishra, priest of another temple nearby said.
Reports, meanwhile, mentioned a Hindu community leader of the area, Ramesh, saying that the temple management was under pressure to vacate the premises for some time as the land had been sold to a developer on forged documents who wanted to build a commercial building on the plot.
The incident caused panic and fear among the Hindu community members living in Karachi.
Sindh is home to many ancient Hindu temples. The majority of Pakistan’s Hindu population is settled in Sindh where they share culture, traditions, and language with Muslim residents.
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