Pakistan: No functional temple in Narowal for Hindus, people travel miles to perform rituals

Narowal [Pakistan], August 15 : The members of the Hindu community, residing in the Narowal district of Pakistan have to face a lot of difficulties and travel long distances to perform their religious and cultural rituals, including marriage and death rites because of the absence of any functional temple in the district, Dawn news reported on Tuesday.
Dawn is a Pakistani English-language daily newspaper. 
It reported that, the official data revealed that the three tehsils of the Narowal district, Narowal, Shakargarh and Zafarwal have a total population of 1,253 Hindus including men, women and children.
Hindu families are living in Ghauta Fatehgarh, Bathanwala, Badumalhi, Ahmedabad, Malukpur, Alipur, Aurangabad and other villages of Narowal tehsil, while in Shakargarh tehsil They are residing in Beriyan, Sangran, Sukhochak, Raibamor. Bajar, Ikhlaspur, Bherri Khurd Jasad and Aliabad villages. Similarly, many Hindu families live in Zafarwal tehsil’s Lala, Sankhatra, Sangyal, Dudhochak, Darman, Kot Bawa, Bada Pind, Jarpal and Jatwal villages.
According to Dawn News, the former member of Narowal district council, Ratan Lal Arya who is also a member of the District Peace Committee and an ex-President of the Pak Dharam Astan Committee said, “Due to the absence of a temple in the district, members of the Hindu community have either to perform their religious rituals inside their homes or go to the temples located in big cities like Sialkot, Lahore and Rawalpindi for the purpose on the occasion of Holi, Diwali, Month of Shabrati, Rakshaw Bandha etc”, Dawn news reported.
He alleged that the two Hindu temples in Narowal City and five others in Zafarwal were rented out abruptly by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) in connivance with some interested parties, who are using these places for other purposes.  
He added that the renovation of the two rooms of a temple at Bohli in Zafarwal tehsil was done by the ETPB for performing rituals on the insistence of the local Hindu community but a year later the status of the temple was changed and rented out to a private person.
Another member of the Hindu community stressed the issue that on religious festivals, Hindu families have to perform rituals inside their homes because there is no temple nearby, Dawn News reported.
He says the government of Pakistan spends millions of rupees annually on the welfare of the minorities and the beautification of their places of worship, but ETPB officials have deprived the Hindu community in the district of their right to have a functional temple.
Sialkot ETPB Deputy Administrator Tanveer Hussain, says that the board has so far received no request from Narowal for the allotment and restoration of any temple for the Hindu community.
He termed the allegations of collusion of ETPB officials with any private party for renting out temples false and baseless, reported Dawn News.
The atrocities on minority communities have always been in the news and forceful conversions to Islam cannot be ignored. Raising the same issues, the minorities alliance in Pakistan had also staged a protest against the Pakistan government. 
Earlier, Hundreds of individuals from minority and marginalised communities in Pakistan held the first 'Minority Rights March' at the Frere Hall area of Karachi on Friday, advocating for their rights and demanding an end to the practice of forced conversions.
Demanding urgent action to address the pressing issues faced by religious minorities in the country, the enthusiastic participants displayed banners calling for an end to abductions, harassment, forced conversions and marriages and rape of women and girls of religious minorities.