Pakistan opens 1000-year-old temple for worship in Sialkot after the demand of local Hindus

[the eslah]

Pakistan has opened a 1,000-year-old Hindu temple in eastern city Sialkot for "worship"
for the first time since partition on the demand of the local Hindu community, officials said on Monday.

The Shawala Teja Singh temple, located in city's
congested Dhaarowal locality, some 100-km from Lahore, is more than 1,000 years old, according to the book 'History of Sialkot' by the late Rashid
Niaz.

"The Evacuee Trust Property Board, which looks after the holy places of minorities in Pakistan, has opened Shawala Teja Singh temple after the
partition on the demand of the local Hindu community," ETPB spokesperson Amir Hashmi told Press Trust India(PTI).

He said since there was no Hindu population
earlier residing in the city the temple was closed
for worship.

"The temple was partially damaged during attacks
on temples here in reaction to Babri Mosque in 1992," he said, adding that the ETPB carried out
restoration work of the temple on the direction of
Board chairman Dr Amir Ahmed recently.
ETPB Deputy Director Fraz Abbas told PTI that the
restoration work of this temple is still underway
and the board is expected to complete it shortly.

"The temple has been opened for worship for the first time since partition. Some 2,000 Hindus are residing in this locality and they are so happy to visit their centuries-old worship place. Now a good number of local Hindus are visiting it. Hindus
from other parts of the country are also expected
to visit this temple," he said.

Abbas said the visiting Indian Hindus will also be
taken to this temple.
Local Hindu leaders Rattan Laal and Rumaish
Kumar have welcomed the government's step to
restore the temple and open it for the minority
community.

Hindus form the biggest minority community in
Pakistan.

According to official estimates, 75 lakh Hindus live in Pakistan. However, according to the community, over 90 lakh Hindus are living in the
country. Majority of Pakistan's Hindu population is settled
in Sindh province where they share culture,
traditions and language with their Muslim fellows.(END)

READ HERE: https://www.indiatoday.in/world/sto...for-worship-after-72-years-1574965-2019-07-29

Editor Says:This is extremely good news for prosperious and equal pakistan, few day back the govt. Also announced new temple in pakistan regarding the increment of hindu communities in the city.now the same gut felt for Sialkot and other cities. It shows minorities are safe and are increasing in pakistan which is a positive sign isn't it?

 

[uberkoen]

This and the plans for building a temple in Islamabad are good moves by the government. Would love to see more of this happening and giving our minorities the rights and freedom they deserve.

 

[the eslah]

This and the plans for building a temple in Islamabad are good moves by the government. Would love to see more of this happening and giving our minorities the rights and freedom they deserve.

Same bro,Before hindu,sikh,jain,christian they are humans and pakistan. They deserve their every rights and this is the way. I hope few more example will be set in coming days.
Wherever i go in pakistan i want mosque, i want temples,i want churches, i want smiles, i want happiness i want pakistan

 

[Thunderbolt14]

@ all the people saying the Islamabad move wasn’t enough.

Genuine steps, coming from good places and intentions, generate a snowball effect.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

This was done last year, its an old article. PTI goverment is committed to renovating 400 historic mandirs.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

Pakistan's federal government has decided to reopen Hindu temples across the country in phases, fulfilling the longstanding demand of the minority Hindus that their places of worship be restored to them.

When most Hindus left Pakistan during Partition, many temples were lost to encroachment; even in places where some Hindu families stayed back, local strongmen muscled in and occupied temple land.

Many temple complexes ended up being used as a common facility and some even became madrassas.

Now the Pakistan government wants to reclaim temples and hand them over to the Hindu community. The government has decided to reclaim and restore 400 temples to the Hindu citizens of Pakistan.

The process will begin with two historic shrines in Sialkot and Peshawar. Sialkot has a functioning Jagannath Temple and now the 1,000-year-old Shivalaya Teja Singh is set to be restored.

Hindus had stopped visiting the shivalaya (shawala) after a mob attack during Babri mosque demolition protests in 1992.

In Peshawar, the Pakistani courts had ordered reopening of the Gorakhnath Temple and it's been declared a heritage site.

Restoration
From now on, two to three such historic and heritage temple complexes will be restored by the government of Pakistan every year.

Earlier, the All-Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement conducted a survey across the country and the result shocked everyone.

The survey found there were 428 Hindu temples at the time of Partition and 408 of them were turned into toy stores, restaurants, government offices and schools after 1990.

According to a recent government estimate, at least 11 temples in Sindh, four in Punjab, three in Balochistan and two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were operational in 2019.

Pakistan recently agreed to open the Kartarpur Sahib corridor to facilitate pilgrimage to Guru Nanak's birthplace from Punjab on the Indian side.

The Pakistan government has also approved a proposal to establish a corridor that will allow Hindu pilgrims to visit Sharda Peeth, an ancient Saraswati temple in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.


https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan-to-restore-hand-over-400-hindu-temples-1.1573614894498

 

[Slog]

PTI is doing decent work wrt minorities tbh. Obv there’s lot to do but things don’t happen in a day. Good steps

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

PTI is doing decent work wrt minorities tbh. Obv there’s lot to do but things don’t happen in a day. Good steps

The best change that they have brought is that politicians cant attack members of the minority community and get it away with it now. A PTI minister did that and he had to apologize.

Next move should be to make Diwali a federal holiday for everyone. Nawaz Sharif made it a holiday for the Hindu community, and its a holiday in Sindh, but it would be a good move for it to be holiday for the entire nation to give that day respect.

And this might be unrealistic, but i think the Mahabharata and Ramayaṇa should be made mandatory in Pakistan to learn. Same way that people in west learn about the Greek epics, people in Pakistan should learn about the Subcontinent's epic.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

PTI is doing decent work wrt minorities tbh. Obv there’s lot to do but things don’t happen in a day. Good steps

People expect to see a country being abused, looted for the last 30 years to change drastically within 2 years of a new government in power for the first time in history. The mess of the last 30 years and beyond would take another 30 years to get on top of.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

People expect to see a country being abused, looted for the last 30 years to change drastically within 2 years of a new government in power for the first time in history. The mess of the last 30 years and beyond would take another 30 years to get on top of.

To be fair both PML N and PPP, as well as Musharraf, have taken steps to improve the situation for minorities in Pakistan. Country in that regards, is moving in the right direction, but obviously more work needs to be done.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

To be fair both PML N and PPP, as well as Musharraf, have taken steps to improve the situation for minorities in Pakistan. Country in that regards, is moving in the right direction, but obviously more work needs to be done.

If so why is interior Sindh especially Thar in this condition since the last 30 years? (PPP stronghold)

If you have details what these 2 parties did to improve situation/condition in the past 30 years for minorities then let's hear it out as I am not that aware of them.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

If so why is interior Sindh especially Thar in this condition since the last 30 years? (PPP stronghold)

If you have details what these 2 parties did to improve situation/condition in the past 30 years for minorities then let's hear it out as I am not that aware of them.

Sindh government made Diwali a holiday. Nawaz Sharif did the same thing with Diwali and Holi and Easter.

Obviously PTI has done way more, but it was something that they did.

Musharraf also renovated some mandirs.

 

[the eslah]

This was done last year, its an old article. PTI goverment is committed to renovating 400 historic mandirs.

The best change that they have brought is that politicians cant attack members of the minority community and get it away with it now. A PTI minister did that and he had to apologize.

Next move should be to make Diwali a federal holiday for everyone. Nawaz Sharif made it a holiday for the Hindu community, and its a holiday in Sindh, but it would be a good move for it to be holiday for the entire nation to give that day respect.

And this might be unrealistic, but i think the Mahabharata and Ramayaṇa should be made mandatory in Pakistan to learn. Same way that people in west learn about the Greek epics, people in Pakistan should learn about the Subcontinent's epic.

well,the article is not older it was posted y'day. Last yr PTI Decided to renovate 400 temples and one of the honorary mentions were this very temples that's why it was also posted a year Ago as a separate article. Now the renovation is almost completed an is set to open.

 

[the eslah]

The best change that they have brought is that politicians cant attack members of the minority community and get it away with it now. A PTI minister did that and he had to apologize.

Next move should be to make Diwali a federal holiday for everyone. Nawaz Sharif made it a holiday for the Hindu community, and its a holiday in Sindh, but it would be a good move for it to be holiday for the entire nation to give that day respect.

And this might be unrealistic, but i think the Mahabharata and Ramayaṇa should be made mandatory in Pakistan to learn. Same way that people in west learn about the Greek epics, people in Pakistan should learn about the Subcontinent's epic.

1000% Diwali should be a national holiday and maharbharta(or other religous sacred book) should be compulsary in the hindutva regions or whole sindh so peoples will also educate about islam and vice versa for hindus islamiat should be taught.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

A step in the right direction. Well done.

 

[the eslah]

A step in the right direction. Well done.

More news coming, wait and watch.