Bangladesh Hindu group condemns sealing of Ramlila temple in Pakistan's Dera Ismail Khan

A Hindu organisation in Bangladesh has condemned the sealing of the old Ramlila temple in Dera Ismail Khan, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and asked Islamabad to protect the site from being turned into commercial property.

Authorities in Dera Ismail Khan sealed the temple, in the city’s Rahim Bazaar, on Sunday. Days earlier, civil society activists had stepped in to stop the building from being demolished to make way for a commercial plaza. Assistant Commissioner Hamid Siddiq had sealed the temple after public protests, and construction at the site was halted.

A joint meeting of civil society representatives and members of the local Hindu community has since opposed any commercial building on the site and urged elected representatives to raise the matter in Pakistan’s National Assembly.

The Bangladesh Hindu Sammilon Sangho expressed “deep concern” and “strong condemnation”. It said closing any place of worship was a serious violation of the right to freedom of religion, and that a plan to replace the temple with a commercial building ran against communal harmony.

The group asked Pakistan’s government to “immediately ensure the security of this historic and traditional temple”, to drop plans for a commercial complex for good, to let worshippers resume rituals there and to punish those responsible for what it called a “heinous incident”. It also urged the international community to stand up for minority rights and religious freedom.

Pakistani authorities have not publicly responded to the group’s statement.