Lala Chaman Lal
I am a passionate human rights advocate working to protect and empower marginalized communities.
On August 11, 2021, Dr. Azad Marshall on National Minorities Day reflected on the painful truth,
“Jinnah promised religious freedom and civil liberties on equal terms… but unfortunately I think that we, as a nation, have seemingly failed to adopt his vision.”
These were merely not just words or emotions but a reflection of continued assault on the faith of non-Muslims in Pakistan, from diminished rights to forced conversion, discrimination on workplaces to living with the fear of blasphemous allegations, Hindus in Pakistan have been through a lot when it comes to just living the basic freedom of life, the free practice of Religion.
And when even the right to live freely is this fragile, the state of our places of worship, the temples —tell an even darker story.
– Temples Should Be Safe Havens — Not Frontlines
Imagine feeling the need to reconnect with your soul, or just practicing your daily rituals or offering prayers and feeling the emotional safety within.
Now imagine that very place, your temple ,being reduced to debris overnight. Imagine walking past it days later, only to find its land disputed, encroached upon, or silently taken over by someone who doesn’t believe that you should be allowed to practice your religion in this country.
For thousands of Hindus in Pakistan, temples are not just places of worship, they are their lifelines of identity, from childhood memories to their sense of emotional attachment with the place and yet, many of these sacred spaces are now under siege. From neglect and land grabs to violent vandalizations, the diving places of worship are being turned into a topic of mob violence.
– Multan’s Prahladpuri to Karachi’s Mari Mata: From Heritage to Rubble
Temples in Pakistan are not just spiritual sites, but historical artifacts, symbols of cultural memory and communal identity. Unfortunately, today many of such structures have been ruined to just bricks and beams due to state negligence and the pressure from certain religious lobbies.
-One such example is the Prahladpuri Temple in Multan, believed to be over 10 decades old. Carrying a very deeper emotional connection with a Hindu festival of colors, HOLI. The temple was beside the shrine of Bahauddin Zakariya and was once a symbol of religious and cultural harmony. But in 1992, following the Babri Masjid demolition in India, the temple was targeted by violent mobs and severly destroyed. Despite
Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordering its restoration, the site remains neglected, reduced to ruins and surrounded by silence and fear. Even after the destruction, the area surrounding the temple has never been Hindu friendly, there have rising tensions and threats of mob attacks and no promise able security has been allotted for the believers.
📌 Source:
- Deccan Herald – Holi security appeal
- Wikipedia – Prahladpuri Temple
- More recently, the Shri Mari Mata Mandir in Karachi, said to be nearly 150 years old, was bulldozed overnight in July 2023. Carried out allegedly by a local builder claiming ownership. This sensitive crime happened under police watch, despite multiple complaints and protests by the Hindu community. Despite the very obvious case, no significant actions were made for arrests or investigations were done for justice and yet a spiritual sanctuary was turned into a pile of rubble.
📌 Source:
-Conclusion: Sacred Sites, Silenced Faith
What seems to be isolated incidents highlight a very fundamental and systemic failure and denial of religious rights to the Hindu Community in Pakistan From the historical neglect of Multan’s Prahladpuri Temple to the overnight demolition of Karachi’s Mata Mandir, from repeated attacks on temples in Larkana to the violent mob-led destruction
in Ghotki — a tragic and undeniable pattern emerges. Maybe its not just about temples or buildings but a direct target to the faith and safety of the Hindu’s in Pakistan which has often seem to be supported by law enforcement agencies by their inactions and virutually nonexistent bills.
Despite Article 20 of Pakistan’s Constitution guaranteeing the freedom to profess and manage religious institutions, and provisions under the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) meant to safeguard minority places of worship, implementation is weak to nonexistent. In practice, temples are left vulnerable, and attackers operate with immunity.
Even the United Nations has expressed alarm over Pakistan’s failure to protect religious minorities and their places of worship, calling for urgent action and accountability.
📌 “Christian and Hindu communities remain particularly vulnerable to religiously motivated attacks, including the destruction of their places of worship.”
— UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), April 2024
🔗 Read the UN statement – OHCHR, April 2024
📌 “We are deeply disturbed by the widespread impunity surrounding violence and discrimination against religious minorities in Pakistan.”
— UN Experts, July 2025
🔗 UN experts call for protection of religious sites – OHCHR, July 2025.
