A mob on Wednesday vandalised a Hindu temple in Pakistan’s Rahim Yar Khan district as a reaction to the alleged desecration of a Muslim seminary, The Dawn reported. The Pakistan Rangers have been deployed in the area to monitor the situation.
Hundreds of people descended on the temple in Bhong town, some 590 km from Lahore, after a local court granted bail to a nine-year-old Hindu boy who allegedly urinated at a library of the seminary last week.
Footage from the vandalism scene showed men smashing temple windows, doors and idols with sticks and stones.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf parliamentarian Ramesh Kumar Vankwani posted videos of the incident, requesting law enforcement agencies to arrest and punish the culprits. “Negligence by local police is very shameful,” he said in one of the tweets. “Chief Justice is requested to take action.”
While no arrests have been made, District Police spokesperson Ahmed Nawaz Cheema said the situation was brought under control.
“Our first priority is to restore law and order and provide protection to the minority community,” District Police Officer Rahim Yar Khan Asad Sarfraz told news agency PTI. About 100 Hindu families are living in the area, he added.
Another police official said the temple has been damaged badly, adding that the attackers smashed idols while shouting religious slogans. A part of the temple was also burnt down, he added.
Hindus had apologised to the seminary administration and informed that the boy was a minor, according to The Dawn. But, the mob vandalised the temple after a social media post urged residents of Bhong to take revenge for the desecration.
The nine-year-old boy was booked under the blasphemy laws of Pakistan. He was later released on bail for being a minor.
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