Karachi: Pakistani Hindus on Sunday staged a protest against the destruction of a Hindu temple in Karachi, a metropolitan of Pakistan. The temple was razed, along with some nearby homes, by a builder.
According to Hindu community members, a builder with a police escort razed the small temple in one of the older neighborhoods of Karachi, along with some surrounding buildings.
The outer walls and roof of the temple were demolished, and rubble was strewn about the area.
Residents protested at the Karachi Press Club on Sunday, demanding compensation as well as the return of religious materials they said were taken during the incident.
Ramesh Kumar Vankwani from the Pakistan Hindu Council said there is a long-running legal dispute between the builder and residents over the land, but it belongs to the Hindu residents.
Zeenat Ahmad, who runs the department in charge of military land, said a court order allowed some of the buildings to be razed. A Pakistani police officer, Parvez Iqbal, denied anything was taken.
The military owns vast tracts of land in Karachi and other parts of the country. Vankwani said the incident was another example of the problems Hindus are facing in Pakistan.
Minority Hindus have complained of increasing harassment and discrimination in Muslim-dominated Pakistan in recent years, including the destruction or desecration of their places of worship.
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