Pakistan temple land grab sparks community outrage

The land on which a 100-year-old Shiv temple stands near Tando Jam town in Pakistan's Sindh province has illegally been occupied by grabbers who have begun construction around it, a Hindu community representative said on Thursday, appealing to the government to stop the illegal establishment.

“The temple is more than a century old, but these land grabbers have occupied and started illegal construction on the land surrounding the temple and obstructed the roads/entrances which lead to the Shiv Mandir,” said Shiva Kachhi, who heads the Darawar Ittehad Pakistan. The organisation represents the Hindu community in Pakistan.

Kachhi said a committee managed the Shiv Mandir and about four acres of land around the temple in the Musa Khatian village near Tando Jam, a town about 185 kilometres from Karachi, before land grabbers illegally occupied it.

The temple was last year renovated by a team of the Sindh Heritage Department owing to its historical significance, Kachhi said.

A cremation site for Hindus is also close to the temple where an annual religious ceremony is held, he said.

He said that Hindu community members in the area recite Bhajans at the temple every Monday.

“The powerful land mafia has occupied many swathes of land surrounding the temple and has already started construction around it.” Kachhi, who carries out welfare and legal aid work for the minority Hindu community in Sindh, appealed to the Pakistani government to stop the illegal construction around the temple.

He said there were many historical Hindu temples in Sindh, and it was the duty of the government to ensure their protection.