USA, June 27, 2006: The Hindu Students Council strongly denounces the destruction of the last surviving Hindu temple in Lahore, Pakistan. On May 27, 2006, the Pakistani government authorities worked in tandem with a local jeweler to fully demolish the ancient Krishna temple in the Rang Mahal area of Lahore city so a commercial plaza could be built in its place. With its destruction, there remains no trace of any Hindu temple in the ancient city of Lahore, which until 1947 boasted hundreds of Hindu temples and a Hindu-majority population. This calculated obliteration leaves the vulnerable Hindu population of Lahore stranded in a violent Punjab province full of hostile Islamic fundamentalists, without a single Hindu temple to fulfill their spiritual and religious needs.
When the neighboring Indian government protested the destruction of the only functional Hindu temple in Lahore, the Pakistani government exhibited brazen mendacity by denying that the demolition ever took place. Pakistan’s Federal Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq and the EPTB Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Zulfikar Ali Khan claimed that the temple was intact. However, the insidious role of the Pakistani government was exposed by the Karachi-based “Dawn” newspaper in its May 28 and June 13 editions, which included photographs of the demolished ruins of the Krishna temple and details of the government’s desire to demolish the temple for the past 6 months.
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