Hindus in Pakistan to pay fines imposed on Karak temple attackers

The Hindu community in Pakistan has decided to pay the fines imposed on 11 religious leaders involved in the Karak temple attack in December 2020 from the All Pakistan Hindu Councils fund, Express Tribune reported.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the recovery of Rs 30.30 million reconstruction charges for the temple from the accused named in the FIR despite the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government's objections after it was discovered that the local clerics, who were involved in the attack, were creating hurdles in the rebuilding of the temple, the report said.

The temple is being rebuilt by the government, but a local cleric and a local resident objected to the expansion of the temple and 'directed' the contractor to construct a boundary wall in front of the verandah, just to enrage the Hindu community.

"The Hindu Council has decided to pay the fine of Jamait Ulemai-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) district Amir Maulana Mir Zaqeem, former district Nazim Karak Rehmat Salam Khattak, Maulana Sharifullah and eight other leaders and Rs 268,000 per person have already been paid," said a local resident.

"There are a total of 123 accused nominated in the FIR by the police, many of whom were nominated with the help of the video footage of the attack," he said, the report added.

The district administration had already sent notices to these 123 people to pay their share of the fine on October 26. A list of the properties of these people has also been prepared, as it has been decided to confiscate their moveable and immovable properties in case they fail to pay the amount.

A local Hindu leader said that the community was completely helpless as despite the government's involvement, the Deputy Commissioner refused to help them in the expansion of the temple during the reconstruction phase due to the fear of the local clerics. So the community didn't want to further enrage these clerics and decided to pay their share of fine from the Hindu Council's fund, Express Tribune reported.

"The DC refused even to take action against a local cleric who said that the word 'Hindu Temple' will not be inscribed on the front side of the building," he said.

"The amount has already been paid, but now all the 123 accused are demanding that their fine should also be paid by the Hindu community, which is not possible," he added, the report said.

The police and the district administration had on Friday once again asked the accused to pay the amount within 14 days otherwise strict action will be taken against them.

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