Attackers in Pakistan damaged a nearly century-old Hindu temple in the garrison city of Rawalpindi before fleeing the scene, police said Monday. 

The vandals damaged the door and the stairs of the temple in the attack, which took place on Saturday night. The temple was not yet reopened for the Hindu community for worship and was still undergoing renovation, according to local police official Mohammad Toseef Sajjad. 

It was further revealed that due to the restoration process, there were no religious rituals taking place in the temple, nor were there any idols on the premises.

Temple administrator Om Prakash revealed that security has been deployed at his house as well as the temple following the incident. The attack on the Hindu temple is not the first as miscreants have attacked many others in different parts of the country in the past.

The Hindu community of Pakistan has called on the government to ensure safety and security of their religious sites and facilitate them in performing their religious rituals.

In December 2020, a religious cleric had inflamed supporters and followers in attacking a historic site in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province, triggering the government to take steps to not only secure the site, but also renovating it.

There were no further details. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.  In general, Muslims and Hindus live peacefully in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, but there have been attacks on Hindu temples in recent years. Most of Pakistan’s minority Hindus migrated to India in 1947 when India was divided by Britain’s government. 

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