A historical Hindu temple near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has been demolished and construction for a commercial complex has started at the site in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The temple was closed since 1947 when Hindus forced to flee to India.

The ‘Khyber Temple’ was situated in the border town of Landi Kotal Bazaar in the Khyber district but had been vanishing over the years. The construction at the site started about 10-15 days ago, reports said.

“The temple was located in the centre of the Landi Kotal Bazaar, which was closed in 1947 after the local Hindu families migrated to India. It was partially damaged by some clerics and seminarians in 1992 following the demolition of the ‘Babri Masjid’ at Ayodhya in India,” tribal journalist Ibrahim Shinwari, hailing from Landi Kotal, said.

Haroon Sarabdiyal of the Pakistan Hindu Mandir Management Committee said that it was the responsibility of the district administration and relevant government departments to ensure the protection and rehabilitation of historical buildings of religious importance 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 said.

The Dawn newspaper quoted Assistant Commissioner Landi Kotal, Muhammad Irshad, who expressed ignorance about the temple’s demolition and said there was no mention of the temple in the official land record of Khyber tribal district. “The entire land in Landi Kotal Bazaar was owned by the state,” he said