OF late, an uptick in incidents tied to religious intolerance has reignited concerns regarding the state of minorities’ rights and worsened feelings of insecurity among practitioners of minority faiths. Reports of the desecration or destruction of places of worship frequented by non-Muslims — although now a regular feature in our news cycle — seem to have picked up in frequency in recent months. More violence can be expected as deteriorating economic conditions precipitate social anxieties, which can create an atmosphere of heightened intolerance. It is in this context that two recent incidents involving ‘attacks’ on Hindu temples have caused alarm in their local communities. On Saturday morning, the Hindu community in Karachi’s Soldier Bazaar neighbourhood woke up to find that there had been an attempt to raze a temple built more than a century ago. Then, in the early hours of Sunday, a Hindu place of worship in Kashmore, Sindh, came under assault by suspected dacoits, armed with rocket-propelled grenades.

Though the Karachi incident was attributed to a land dispute, and the Kashmore incident was later portrayed as ‘collateral damage’ from a clash over a protection racket, the locals affected by the two incidents have been left shaken and believe they were targeted. Article 20 of the Constitution promises every citizen the right to manage their religious institutions, and the state is bound, under Article 36, to safeguard the rights and interests of minority communities. While it may be that there were no religious motives for the targeting of these places of worship, the state still has a duty to assure the respective communities that it will safeguard their interests and ensure their well-being. No citizen should live under a cloud of fear simply because of the belief system they have chosen to adhere to. In a broader context, the state needs to be more proactive in protecting our minority communities, which seem to be facing constant restrictions on their ways of life.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2023