Pakistan: 12 cops fired over Hindu temple attack

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - At least 12 police officers have been sacked for failing to stop a mob from demolishing a Hindu temple in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last month.

The cops showed “cowardice, negligence, and irresponsibility in the discharge of their official obligations,” according to the official inquiry report released on Thursday.

Some 33 more police officers have been suspended from service for a year.

“They failed to protect the Hindu temple, which caused disrepute for the police department in the eyes of general public,” the report said.

On Dec. 30, hundreds of followers of a Muslim group destroyed the temple built in 1920 in Karak, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of the provincial capital Peshawar.

The attack came as the local Hindu community was carrying out renovations at the historic site.

The country’s Supreme Court and government condemned the incident, ordering authorities to arrest the perpetrators and rebuild the temple.

Pakistan is home to over 3.5 million Hindus and has several revered Hindu sites within its borders, including the Katas Raj Temples in the northeastern Chakwal district and Sadhu Bela Temple in the southern Sukkur district.