PAKISTAN, March 29, 2014 (Tribune): A small temple belonging to the Hindu scheduled-caste community was desecrated on Friday morning. Three unidentified attackers entered the temple of the Hindu deity, Hanuman, in the SITE area of Latifabad at around 7 am. The men prayed for two minutes and then broke Hanuman’s statue before setting the temple on fire. This temple is located in the same compound as the more popular temple of Kali Mata.
“They asked me to let them in because they wanted to pray,” said Darshan, a student of class five, who has been looking after the temple for the last five months. “But, once they entered, they broke the statue, sprayed kerosene oil and set everything ablaze.”
The temple is located in Kali Mata Colony on the foothills of the Ganjo Takkar mountain range. The colony, inhabited by around 500 to 600 scheduled-caste families, is named after the historic Kali Mata temple, which was located in a mountain cave before the new temple was built. Hanuman’s temple is situated at the colony’s entrance, some 350 to 400 feet away from the Kali Mata’s temple. The attack came weeks before the April 14 fair organized at the temple every year.
Krishan Kumar, who represents the colony’s community, refused to accept that Friday’s attacks were caused due to any rivalries. The people of this area mostly belong to the labor class, he said, adding that they neither fight with neighboring communities nor have they received any threats. “We have been living here for centuries because of Kali Mata’s temple. Never in the past were we attacked this way.”