ISLAMABAD: Hindu pilgrims from India and the UAE started to arrive in Pakistan on Saturday to visit a century-old temple in the country’s north that was recently renovated after last year’s mob attack, the head of the Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) has said.
Hindus are the largest non-Muslim majority, accounting for 2 percent of the population of the country which gained independence from British rule in 1947, when the subcontinent was partitioned into Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India.
At the time of partition, there were 428 Hindu temples in Pakistan, many of them changed their use and were turned into housing, offices or other venues. In 2019, the Pakistani government started the restoration process for 400 of the temples and is going to reopen them for the Hindu community.
The Hindu pilgrims will be in Pakistan until Jan. 4.
“An international delegation, consisting of 200 Hindu pilgrims, is visiting Pakistan for 04 days, via Wagah border and Dubai,” Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) patron-in-chief Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said in a statement.
Footage from state-owned PTV News showed 159 Hindu pilgrims from India reaching Lahore by land.
بھارتی ہندو یاتری واہگہ بارڈر کے ذریعے لاہور پہنچ گئے۔۔
ہندو یاتری مذہبی رسومات کی ادائیگی کے لئے لاہور آئے ہیں۔
واہگہ بارڈر کے ذریعے آنے والے وفد میں 159 ہندو یاتری شامل ہیں
ایم این اے ڈاکٹر رمیش کمار نے ہندو یاتری کے وفد کو خوش آمدید کہا@RVankwani pic.twitter.com/586Nv4iFa6
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) January 1, 2022
“The primary purpose of Hindu pilgrims, led by Shriman Mahatma Param Nityanand Ji, arriving here is to visit the Samadhi of Shri Param Hans Ji Maharaj / Teri Temple,” Vankwani said.
The early 20th-century temple and resting place of Hindu guru Shri Param Hans Dayal Ji Maharaj, is located in Teri village, Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It was set it on fire by a mob last year.
Several people, including members of the Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party, were arrested over the attack and fined for vandalizing the Hindu place of worship. The incident also prompted Prime Minister Imran Khan to issue a warning that anyone targeting the country’s non-Muslim citizens would face stern consequences.
As pilgrims will visit the renovated temple, Vankwani, who is also a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly, said the Hindu council would also arrange regular visits of Pakistani delegations to Muslim shrines in India.
“A series of flights will start from both the countries every month to facilitate religious pilgrims,” he said.
The first such visit to Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan is scheduled for late January.
To facilitate religious tourism arrivals from the UAE, Vankwani signed an agreement with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in early December to launch special charter flights.
