Highlights
- 250 Hindu pilgrims from India, UAE and America are going to Pakistan
- The group is scheduled to visit the burial site in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province this week
- The same mausoleum was ransacked last year by a radical Islamist party.
A group of 250 Hindu pilgrims from India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the US are scheduled to visit a century-old mausoleum in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province this week. The same mausoleum was vandalized last year by a radical Islamist party. This information was given in the media report on Thursday. These devotees will go to the Samadhi Sthal of Sant Paramhans Ji Maharaj.
Paramhans Ji Maharaj died in 1919 in Teri village of Karak district of the province and this shrine was established in 1920. According to the report of ‘Dawn’ newspaper, on the invitation of Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC), a large number of Hindu devotees from India, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and America will reach Peshawar on January 1 and visit the samadhi of the saint in Teri.
54 Hindus visited the country last month
“This is the second time that the council has invited Hindu devotees from other countries to see for themselves the existence of a tolerant and pluralistic society in Pakistan,” PHC patron Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani told the newspaper. The report said the council has arranged the event in collaboration with Pakistan International Airlines. Last month 54 Hindus from India, Canada, Singapore, Australia and Spain had visited the country. The group was led by the fifth successor of Paramhans Ji Maharaj, Shri Satguru Ji Maharaj.
In December last year, over 1,000 people led by some local clerics of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) instigated villagers to demolish the mausoleum and as a result people led by the students of the local madrassa attacked him. The shrine was renovated on the orders of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. The top court in October 2021 had also ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government to recover Rs 3.3 crore (US$ 1,94,161) from the culprits involved in the demolition of the century-old mausoleum.
This place was badly damaged in the attack
Earlier in 1997, the shrine was attacked for the first time in which this place was badly damaged. PHC chief Vankwani had moved the apex court in 2015, seeking restoration of the shrine and resumption of the annual pilgrimage there. Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed celebrated Diwali at the shrine last month to express solidarity with members of the Hindu community and welcome pilgrims from other parts of the country.
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