Pakistan has fired at least 12 police officers for failing to prevent a mob from demolishing a Hindu temple in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last month.
Policemen inspect the burnt Hindu temple a day after a mob attack in a remote village in Karak district, some 160 kms southeast of Peshawar on December 31, 2020. – Hundreds of Muslims attacked and set fire to a Hindu temple in northwest Pakistan on December 30, police and witnesses said. (Photo by Abdul MAJEED / AFP)
The cops showed “cowardice, negligence, and irresponsibility in the discharge of their official obligations,” according to the official inquiry report released on Thursday.
Some 33 more police officers have been suspended from service for a year.
“They failed to protect the Hindu temple, which caused disrepute for the police department in the eyes of general public,” the report said.
On Dec. 30, hundreds of followers of a Muslim group destroyed the temple built in 1920 in Karak, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) southeast of the provincial capital Peshawar.
The attack came as the local Hindu community was carrying out renovations at the historic site.
The country’s Supreme Court and government condemned the incident, ordering authorities to arrest the perpetrators and rebuild the temple.
Pakistan is home to over 3.5 million Hindus and has several revered Hindu sites within its borders, including the Katas Raj Temples in the northeastern Chakwal district and Sadhu Bela Temple in the southern Sukkur district.
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