Pakistan detains 38 for attack on Hindu temple in Rahim Yar Khan

On August 5, a mob comprising over a dozen men armed with sticks had vandalised a Hindu temple in village Bhong of Rahim Yar Khan, shouting slogans and desecrating idols in the place of worship.

Rahim Yar Khan: After being repeatedly slammed by the international community for not safeguarding the interest of its minorities, Pakistan on Saturday detained 38 persons for the attack on the Hindu temple in Rahim Yar Khan. According to the police, 38 of the detained persons were presented before an anti-terrorism court in Bahawalpur, reported Geo News.

Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had a day earlier reprimanded the Punjab police chief for failing to take action to safeguard the Hindu temple from the mob in Rahim Yar Khan, directing him to arrest all culprits involved in the incident.

On Thursday, a mob comprising over a dozen men armed with sticks had vandalised a Hindu temple in village Bhong of Rahim Yar Khan, shouting slogans and desecrating idols in the place of worship.

Pakistani lawmaker and Hindu community leader Ramesh Kumar Vankwani had shared videos of the incident. 

In one of the videos, the mob can be seen destroying the infrastructure of the temple.

In recent years, there has been a surge in attacks on the place of worship of religious minorities in Pakistan. 

The country has been repeatedly slammed by the international community for not safeguarding the interest of its minorities.

Last year in December, a mob of over a hundred people led by local Muslim clerics had destroyed and set on fire the temple in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. 

A video clip that went viral on social media showed a violent mob destroying the walls and roof of the temple.

Pakistan has been discriminating against its religious minorities, which is manifested in various forms of targeted violence, mass murders, extrajudicial killings, abduction, rapes, forced conversion to Islam, etc, making the Pakistani Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadiyyas, and Shias one of the most persecuted minorities in the region.