PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistani authorities have fired a local police chief and 11 other police officers for failing to protect a Hindu temple that was set on fire and demolished last month by a mob led by hundreds of supporters of a radical Islamic party. Friday.
The twelve policemen were fired for ‘acts of cowardice’ and ‘negligence’ for not trying to stop the crowd when the temple was attacked, and some fled the scene. The police statement states that another 48 policemen were given different punishments after an investigation into the attack.
The punishments come amid the government’s assurance to the Hindu community that the temple in Karak, a city in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, would be rebuilt.
Hours after the December 30 attack, authorities arrested about 100 people on charges of participating in or following the mob to demolish the temple. The detainees included supporters of the radical Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, which is currently facing various charges.
The attack came after members of the Hindu community obtained permission from local authorities to renovate the temple.
Although Muslims and Hindus generally live peacefully in Pakistan, there have been other attacks on Hindu temples in recent years. Most Hindus from Pakistan migrated to India in 1947 when India was divided by the British government.