Pakistan’s Sindh province has been in the news for the rampant abductions of minor Hindu girls, their forceful conversion fo Islam and marriage to older men. In another testimony of the level of religious intolerance and hatred, the Mata Rani Bhatiyani Devi temple in Chachro, Tharparkar in Sindh has been brutally attacked by an Islamist mob on Sunday.
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The attack comes just weeks after the attack on Sikh pilgrimage site Nankana Sahib. In Sindh’s Ghotki region, in September 2019, another temple was brutally attacked by an Islamist mob over fake charges of a teacher indulging in ‘blasphemy’ against Islam.
The Rani Bhatiyani temple was allegedly attacked by an Islamist mob on Sunday. The mob had proceeded to vandalise the temple, desecrate the area and damage the goddess’ statue. The mob had also blackened the face of the idol.
The local Hindu community has express anger and outrage at this attack. It is notable here that Sindh region has been constantly witnessing attacks on the minority Hindus over their faith.
There have been numerous abductions of young Hindu girls, often minors, by local Islamists who then forcefully convert and marry these girls to older Muslim men. The local administration becomes mute spectators when these girls are produced later in local courts with a conversion certificate and ‘Nikahnama’ issued by the Imam of a local Mosque.
The recent attack on Sikh pilgrimage site Nankana Sahib was led by the man was had earlier abducted and forcefully married Sikh girl Jagjit Kaur, the daughter of the ‘Granthi’ at the Gurudwara.
Hindus, Sikhs and Christians, the minority communities in the Islamic Republic Of Pakistan have been constantly under attack by the Islamist fundamentalists. The attacks are often said to be orchestrated by Islamists leaders who enjoy patronage and protection by the Pakistani government.