commercialisation-demolishes-historical-hindu-temple-in-pakistan-s-khyber-pakhtunkhwa

A medieval Hindu temple at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has been demolished for a commercial complex in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has remained closed since 1947 after the original residents migrated from Pakistan during the partition.

 

The 'Khyber Temple' was located near the border town of Landi Kotal Bazaar in the Khyber province, but it has gradually disappeared over time. The work at the location began around 10-15 days ago.

 

Officials from several administrative offices either denied knowledge of the Hindu temple's existence or maintained that the building was proceeding following the guidelines.

 

According to Pakistani media reports, local journalist Ibrahim Shinwari, who hails from Landi Kotal, said that there was a historical temple in the major Landi Kotal Bazar.

 

"The temple was located in the middle of the Landi Kotal bazaar, which was closed in 1947 when the local Hindu family went to India.

Some clergy and seminarians partially destroyed it in 1992 following the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India.”

 

He said, he had heard about the existence of the temple from his father, and that “There is no doubt in it that there was a temple named ‘Khyber Temple’ in Landi Kotal.”

 

Haroon Sarabdiyal of the Pakistan Hindu Mandir Management Committee said that it was the obligation of the district administration and appropriate government authorities to safeguard and restore ancient structures of religious significance to non-Muslims.

 

"The archaeology and museums department, police, culture department, and local government were bound by the 2016 antiquity law to protect such sites, including places of worship," he added.

 

Meanwhile, According to Assistant Commissioner Landi Kotal, Muhammad Irshad acknowledged his ignorance regarding the temple's demolition and said that the temple is not included in the Khyber tribal district's official land records.”

“The land completely belongs to the state,” he added.

 

Adding to that, revenue officials have failed to locate the record suggesting the existence of a temple in that particular region.

 

However, Shinwari refused to accept the records produced by the revenue dept. and said, “If the government fails to meet its commitments to religious minorities, all of their houses of worship and other historical structures will be demolished shortly,” he warned.

 

Shinwari also took note of the Auqaf committee suggesting “their claims are baseless as they have no staff presence in the particular area, yet claiming there was no temple is a lie.”

 

He added, "Many aged tribal elders would bear testimony to this fact that there was a temple in main Landi Kotal Bazaar."