Rebuilding a temple

The Hindu pilgrims from neighboring India and other countries have started visiting the ancient Teri temple in the historic town of Karak in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The temple has recently been reconstructed and opened for the pilgrims. Recently, a delegation of international pilgrims comprising 215 Hindus, of which 159 were from neighboring India, performed their religious rituals at the temple.

The temple has been at the center of a controversy for several years. The Hindus were first barred from entering the area in 1997 which caused an uproar at the time. However, last year the locals led by a cleric, attacked the temple and demolished it completely.  An FIR was registered against 350 people for vandalism and 121 of them were arrested after issuance of non-bailable warrants.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan later directed Chairman, Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to immediately visit the site of the destroyed temple and begin its reconstruction. In November last year, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed himself inaugurated the rebuilt temple in Karak on the occasion of Diwali, which was hailed as fine gesture by the Hindu community as well as the locals.

The holy temple is approximately 117 years old, when the religious leader of Hindus, Baba Shri Param Hansji Maharaj who is also known as Shri Paramhans Swami Advaitanand Ji Maharaj, came to Karak from Bihar in 1901 and later died here in 1919. Located in the Teri area of Banda Daudshah Tehsil of district Karak, which is 123 km away from Peshawar, the temple falls on the main Indus Highway between Peshawar and Karachi.

Bol News approached some of the visitors to know their views about the reopening of the temple and their experiences here. Among them is Amul Malhotra from India, who arrived in Peshawar to visit the temple of Shri Param Hans Ji Maharaj. “We arrived in Pakistan through the Wagah border and then reached Peshawar by air and were later transported to Teri Samadhi (shrine),” he said. “Since the situation between Pakistan and India had been tense over the past many decades, we were not allowed to visit the country earlier. However, it was an honor for me that for the first time since Independence, our family landed on Pakistani soil to visit the Karak Temple.”

“It was great to see how all the visitors from India intermingled with the local Muslims community and I really appreciate the love and hospitality they extended to us during the visit to the Karak temple,”Malhotra added.

He further said that the visit helped dispel the negative perception regarding the treatment of minorities in Pakistan. “We had heard so many stories about the Pakistanis and the locals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa maltreating the Hindus and other communities, but now we know they were all wrong and baseless.”

“We are thankful to the government of Pakistan for arranging the visit to this historic temple with religious enthusiasm and zeal and also thank the locals in Karak for the ultimate love and hospitality,” he added.

Rohit Kumar, an advocate by profession who is also in charge of legal affairs of the Hindu community in KP, shed further light over the recent visit of the Hindus to the temple and said: “In the last 25 years, this is for the first time that the locals are so warmly welcoming the Hindus and the people from across the borders who are visiting Teri’s temple.”

Elaborating on the personality of Hansji Maharaj after whom the Karak temple is named, Rohit said:  “Shri Param Hansji Maharaj was a God-fearing saint and philanthropist from neighboring India who breathed his last in the Teri area of District Karak.”

Rohit, who was at the forefront during the efforts to restore the shrine, went on to add that it is a landmark achievement of the government of Pakistan to reconstruct the temple because “the followers of Maharaj ji have tremendous regard for it and continue to establish hundreds of other ashrams (monasteries) across the globe in his loving memory,” Kumar added.

Complementing the government of Pakistan for its positive stance towards the minorities, he said the government of Pakistan is making sincere efforts to protect the religious places of Hindus and other religions and that’s why the minorities in the country are feeling safe and completely free to practice their basic rights, including receiving education and religious freedom.

To a question, Kumar said the kind of gestures with minorities will promote a positive image of the country like restoration of the temple is the positive message for the neighboring countries especially Indian government that minorities are free and safe in this country.”

The advocate appealed to government of India to promote cross border religious harmony that and “the Indian government should also allow Muslims from Pakistan in their country and give them access to their places of worship and help bridge the gap between religion and humanity,” Kumar concluded.

Meanwhile, Harron Sarab Diyal who is the head of the Hindu community in the KP province, also expressed happiness and appreciated all the stakeholders over promoting religious harmony between the Hindus and Muslims. “This is very good initiative of the government of Pakistan to arrange such visits of the Hindu to Teri temple and I think this is the first step to promote PM Imran khan’s vision of religious harmony in the country.”

“This was the need of time to promote mainstream religious tourism, which will generate revenue and enrich the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and in this regard, Mandar Committee also initiated to look after the issues,” Diyal disclosed.

He further shared recent efforts for the Hindu community in Pakistan which also helped organise the Karak temple visit in a smooth manner. “The recent trip was possible due to the efforts of the Hindu Council and in near future, all the stakeholders in Pakistan will combine to hold such events which will be ensured according to the world tourism protocols, like accessibility to markets, free mobility, etc.

However, the Diyal was unhappy about how the Hindu community living in KP was ignored by the provincial set-up. “Things will be more effective if the government in KP include the Hindu community from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the trip to Teri temple, because we are more familiar with the culture and can represent the province in a better way,” he pointed out.

“This province has a rich culture and religious heritage that stretches back to more than 2,000 years such as the Mansehra Shiva Temple, Dargah Pir Ratan Nath Jee, Goraknath Temple and many more in the KP province which can be regular visiting sites for the visitors and the locals.”

He stressed on the government to arrange more exchange visits. “This is very essential for the region that people from a different religion are visiting Pakistan and exchange culture and views with locals, which will help them to change their negative perception regarding minorities in Pakistan,”Diyal concluded.

It may be mentioned here that in Pakistan, there are 5392 Hindus who constitute 0.015% of the country’s population. The Pakistan Hindu Council in Pakistan has estimated that there are 21,033 Hindus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the country’s population in 2017 was 207 million, which the number of Hindus would be around 3.3 million.

On the other side, the Pakistan Hindu Council claims the Hindu population in the country would be around 8 million, in which 21,033 Hindus are present in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Moreover, the Hindus comprised 1.6 per cent of Pakistan’s population which made them the biggest minority group in the country.