KARACHI, Dec 4: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed deep concern over partial damage to a Hindu temple in Soldier Bazaar and demanded that the government not only put a stop to it but also reconstruct the demolished part of the temple.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Sindh chief and vice chief of the HRCP, Zohra Yusuf and Amarnath Motumal, respectively, said that while the authorities claimed that the temple was an ‘encroachment’ it was ironic that the discovery was made only recently when commercial interests of a builder seemed to be at stake.

They said that the temple was built over 30 years ago and was being used by residents of the area.

In their statement, Ms Yusuf and Mr Motumal regretted that the authorities showed an absolute lack of sensitivity in destroying the place of worship of a vulnerable community and said that the authorities seemed to be giving priority to commercialisation over the religious sentiments of a community. They said that such a step would have been unlikely if instead of a temple, it had been the place of worship of people belonging to the majority faith.

The officials’ statement called upon the Sindh government to immediately stop the demolition of the temple and also restore whatever parts had been destroyed, adding that the lack of action would send a negative signal to an already marginalised community.