VIDEO: Pakistan arrests at least 26 after temple destroyed

Gulf Today Report

Pakistani police arrested at least 26 people, including several clerics, in overnight raids after a temple was demolished by a mob led by supporters of a radical militant party, officials said on Thursday.

Around 1,500 people descended on the temple — which was destroyed in similar circumstances in 1997 — after staging a protest against renovations at an adjoining building owned by Hindus.

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Pakistan’s minister for religious affairs, Noorul Haq Qadri, called the attack on the temple "a conspiracy against sectarian harmony."

A policeman stands guard at the burnt temple a day after a mob attack in Karak district, Peshawar. AFP

Qadri took to Twitter on Thursday, saying attacks on places of worship of minority religious groups are not allowed in Islam and "protection of religious freedom of minorities is our religious, constitutional, moral and national responsibility."

The temple is located in a remote village in Karak district, some 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Peshawar.

"We have arrested 26 people including local clerics for destroying a place of worship and inciting people to riot," local police official Fazal Sher told AFP.

He added police were looking for a further 50 people identified from videos of the attack.

Irfanullah Khan, the district police chief, also confirmed the arrests.

Members of Pakistan Hindu Council hold placards during a protest in Karachi on Thursday. AFP

In Karachi, the capital of Sindh province and where the majority of the country's Hindus live, more than 200 people protested outside the Supreme Court calling for justice.

"You must respect other people's religions. We are Pakistanis, and for God's sake, nobody needs to give us a certificate of loyalty," said Mangla Sharma, a Hindu member of Sindh's provincial assembly.

Gopal Kamuany, president of the Pakistan Hindu Council, accused local authorities of standing by as the attack happened.

"In the video of the attack, the administration is just watching silently as the mob dismantles the temple. What kind of justice is that?" Kamuany said.