Journalist Reema Abbasi and photographer Madiha Aijaz have done a remarkable job of travelling across the length of Pakistan and documenting the state of Hindu temples. The regions that comprise Pakistan are central to the evolution of the Hindu religion and its various offshoots. For instance, the Indian subcontinent derives its very name from the River Indus. In the ancient Sanskrit language, the river was known as “Sindhu”. The Persians gave it the form “Hindu” and through successive generations the land finally came to be known as India, with various forms being derived from this root. Similarly, the shrines in Punjab and Balochistan are perhaps as old as Hinduism itself.Reema writes at the start of the book – Historic Temples in Pakistan: A Call to Conscience – that her endeavor focuses on “Pakistan’s fraying social order and the sad prospect of it bringing about its own destruction”. In recent decades, the country’s minorities have come under severe attack from extremists and the state has often seemed indifferent or worse, culpable. Reema’s concern is not misplaced. In 1947, the non-Muslim population was nearly 23%. Today it is around 5%. Granted that the separation of East Pakistan caused a major decline in this number but we are all aware of Hindus, Sikhs and Christians migrating abroad. In fact, it has become a class-based exodus. The relatively privileged are the first ones to leave, and sadly, for the right reasons.
This collage of forty temples is accompanied with stunning photographs and heart-wrenching stories. For instance, during her visit to the Balmiki Temple in Lahore, Reema tells us how different faiths gather at the shrine and even a cross is located within the temple. But the Hindu residents are scared and often conceal their identity. They have to adopt Muslim manners and customs so that they are not identified and subsequently persecuted by the extremists within the majority population. The vivid photographs make this book even more compelling and one must acknowledge Madiha’s immense skills at capturing the beauty of our forlorn past.
The last spate of vile destruction of temples in Pakistan took place as a result of the Babri mosque’s destruction in the early 1990s. Reema notes that nearly 1000 temples were targeted during that frenzy. Many of us who were familiar with the spectacular gems of devotional architecture saw them being vandalized and in some cases razed to the ground. But there are greater forces at work. The land mafia and builders are now at the forefront of getting the temples out of the way so that ugly buildings can be built on that land, or the precious land can be parceled out for victory.