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Karachi’s mayor Murtaza Wahab has denied local media reports about demolition of over 150 years old Hindu temple in Karachi’s Soldier Bazaar area.
Sharing two pictures of the mandir — a Hindu temple for worship — on his official Twitter handle, the Karachi mayor wrote: “Have checked. No such demolition of the Mandir has taken place [and] Mandir is still intact.”
Have checked. No such demolition of the Mandir has taken place & Mandir is still intact. Administration has intervened & Hindu Panchayat has been asked to assist police in ascertaining the true facts. Will keep everyone posted on this. PPP stands with people of all communities https://t.co/dUKauDtWuZ pic.twitter.com/xu9mN5hbin
— Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui (@murtazawahab1) July 16, 2023
Local media reported on Sunday that the old Mari Mata Temple in the Soldier Bazaar neighbourhood of the port city had been destroyed in a stealth operation on Friday night. The article added that locals claimed to have seen a police mobile there to give “cover” for the guys operating the machinery.
However, Wahab rejected the report and wrote: “Administration has intervened [and] Hindu Panchayat has been asked to assist police in ascertaining the true facts. Will keep everyone posted on this.”
He also affirmed that his party, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), “stands with people of all communities”.
Meanwhile, the land owner Rekha Lal told Daily Jang that the temple still is in its own place.
“This is my own house,” she said “I have property documents and I have been looking after the temple for the past three decades,” she added.
She claimed that some community people want to occupy my house and temple, while the police say that no complaint has been received regarding the desecration of the temple.
