A nearly 150-year-old Hindu temple has been demolished in Karachi, the provincial capital of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s Sindh province. The Mari Mata Temple in Karachi’s Soldier Bazar was razed to the ground by bulldozers in the presence of a heavy contingent of police force late on Friday night.
According to reports, they razed the entire inside structure while leaving the outer walls and the main gate intact.
“They (authorities) did it very early in the morning, and we were not informed this was going to happen,” Ram Nath Mishra Maharaj, who looks after old Hindu temples in the area, said.
“We have also heard of stories about old treasures buried in its courtyard,” he further said, adding that the temple, which covered some 400 to 500 square yards in the area, had been the target of land grabbers and developers for years now.
While a senior police official of the local police station claimed that the temple was demolished as it had been declared a ‘dangerous’ structure by authorities.
The Hindu community has appealed to 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.
