150 year old temple demolished in Karachi

Pak; A Hindu temple, which is believed to have been built nearly 150 years ago, has been demolished as it was declared as an old and dangerous structure in Karachi. It is the provincial capital of Pakistan’s Sindh province which has the left the Hindu community in shock as the incident occurred.

The structure which was known as The Mari Mata Temple in Karachi’s Soldier Bazaar was demolished by bulldozers in the presence of a heavy contingent of police force late on Friday night.

“They (authorities) did it very early in the morning and we were not informed this was going to happen,” said Ram Nath Mishra Maharaj, as reported by ANI. Maharaj looks after old Hindu temples in the area.

Ram Nath Mishra, the caretaker of the nearby Shri Punch Mukhi Hanuman Mandir, said that the outer walls and the Temple’s main gate are said the be left intact, but the the entire inside of the structure was demolished by the bulldozers.

Mishra also mentioned that the temple was built some 150 years ago and told stories of treasure being buried beneath its courtyard. He also mentioned that, the structure that covered some 400 to 500 square yards was being targeted by land grabbers and developers for a years now.

According to a senior police officer at the neighbourhood police station, the temples were destroyed because officials had deemed them to be dangerous structures.

He added that the Karachi Madrasi Hindu community, which managed the temple, apparently concurred that the building was extremely dated and unsafe. The statues of most the deities were grudgingly, but temporarily, relocated to a small room by the temple administration so that they could perform some renovations there.

Ramesh, a Hindu community leader of the area, said the temple management was under pressure to vacate the premises for quite a while now as the land had been sold to a developer on forged documents who wanted to build a commercial building on the plot.

An appeal has been filed by the Hindu community before the the Pakistan-Hindu Council, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and the Inspector General of Sindh police to take notice and look into the matter on an urgent basis.

Karachi has been home to many ancient Hindu temples. The majority of Pakistan’s Hindu population is settled in the Sindh province where they share culture, traditions and language with Muslim residents.