Hindus fear backlash from Babri Mosque verdict

Protestors threaten to “repeat the events of 1992” if the Babri Mosque verdict were not reversed.

LAHORE: The city’s Hindu community is in a state of heightened tension and some have left town for fear of retribution following an Indian court’s verdict in the Babri Mosque case.

Hundreds of protesting students and clerics from Jamia Ashrafi blocked Ferozepur Road for a few hours on Friday after the Allahabad High Court decided that the site of the torn-down Babri Mosque in Ayodhya would be divided between Hindus and Muslims, with one-third going to Muslims and two-thirds to Hindu groups.

The protestors threatened to “repeat the events of 1992” if the verdict were not reversed. After rightwing Hindu rioters tore down Babri Mosque in 1992, rioters in Lahore tore down Krishna Temple and another temple in Taxali Gate.

Police said they were deploying guards to protect Krishna Temple, after religious leaders met in a District Peace Committee meeting and tried to calm tensions.

Jagan Nath, a commerce student who is from the Swat valley but has lived in Lahore for several years, told The Express Tribune that he was on his way to Krishna Temple on Friday evening when a group of young people, most probably madrassah students, blocked his way and threatened to kill him. He said they warned him that if the Babri Mosque were not rebuilt, then Krishna Temple would be demolished again. Nath said that he then rushed to the temple but he couldn’t get in as the pundit had locked the door from the inside.

He said that he called his parents and they told him to leave the city for a few days and stay with relatives in Sheikhupura.

Another Hindu voiced fear for her life and for the temple. “A mob arose and demolished our temple in 1992. I fear that the same will happen again,” said the Hindu woman, who runs a garments business in Lahore.

She accused the government of not providing them proper security at their sacred sites. “The only time you see security at Krishna Temple is when there is a festival. Otherwise we are not protected.”

Peer Ibrahim Satti, chairman of the District Peace Committee and the Committee for Interfaith Harmony, Punjab, said that Friday’s protests where threats were made against the Krishna Temple happened in the heat of the moment when anger at the verdict was still raw.

He said that representatives of Muslim sects had attended the meeting and promised to calm their various followers. He said that the security agencies were asked to step up security at Krishna Temple. The superintendent of police of Iqbal Town division participated as a representative of the deputy inspector general of police.

Dr Munawar Chand, the general secretary of Krishna Temple, said the participants of the Peace Committee meeting had vowed to protect the Hindus in Lahore.

The committee also adopted with a majority vote a resolution condemning the verdict. He said that he had been informed by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) that security at Krishna Temple had been increased.

The ETPB is the custodian of Hindu properties in Pakistan. It says there are over 400 Hindus in the city, served by one functional temple, Krishna Temple.

Azhar Sulheri, ETPB’s deputy secretary who deals with Hindus in Punjab, told The Express Tribune that the board had written to the Home Department calling for increased security around gurdwaras and temples in the city. He said that the ETPB had deployed three of its own security personnel at Krishna Temple, but it needed two police guards. SP (Security) Rana Faisal said he had passed directions to all divisions concerned to enhance security at temples and gurdwaras. He said that the ETPB mostly relies on its own internal security

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2010.