Rights body flags decay of Karachi’s oldest Hindu temple as ‘national shame’
Islamabad, April 3 (IANS) A prominent minority rights organisation has raised alarm over the dilapidated condition and alleged encroachment of the historic Ramchandra Mandir in Karachi, describing the situation as a “national shame.”
According to the Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM), the temple located on Ratan Talao Street near Preedy Police Station in Karachi now stands enclosed within cement walls and iron gates featuring Islamic inscriptions.
The rights body said that the religious site, once marked by prayer and coexistence, has been overshadowed by neglect and discreet encroachment.
“For decades, the Ramchandra Mandir stood as a reminder of Karachi’s plural past—a time when Ram Talao’s waters reflected the diverse faiths of those who lived harmoniously beside them. Today, all that remains is a dome barely visible behind blank walls. The new barriers are more than mere construction; they are symbols of erasure, sealing off a sacred piece of history from the public gaze,” the VOPM stated.
“What makes this tragedy harder to digest is the silence of those responsible. The Evacuee Trust Property Board, entrusted with safeguarding such abandoned religious properties, has once again turned a blind eye,” it added.
The VOPM alleged that Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony remains detached, “watching a piece of national heritage slowly disappear”.
It questioned how a temple could vanish beside a police station without any accountability, asking whether this amounts to an indictment of institutional failure.
The VOPM said Ramchandra Mandir’s fading presence is not merely a local loss but a national shame—“a monument to negligence disguised as progress.”
“If Pakistan truly seeks global respect and internal harmony, it must start by defending the forgotten corners of its own history. Protecting a temple does not threaten faith—it preserves humanity. To hide the Ramchandra Mandir behind cement and steel is to hide the truth of what Pakistan once was and what it still can be, if only it chooses remembrance over repression,” the rights body noted.
–IANS
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