Islamabad — A report presented to the Parliamentary Committee on the Minority Caucus has found that only 37 of Pakistan’s 1,817 Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras remain operational. The findings, reported by Dawn and circulated at the caucus’s first session, attribute the widespread neglect to long-term government inattention and sharply reduced Hindu and Sikh populations in many areas.
At the maiden meeting, Convener Senator Danesh Kumar said the committee will work to turn constitutional guarantees for minorities into concrete action, stressing the need for practical implementation of those rights. Lawmaker Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani accused the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) of failing to care for temples and gurdwaras under its responsibility and urged that ETPB leadership be placed in non-Muslim hands to ensure honest restoration and management of these sites.
Committee members recommended immediate steps to protect the country’s minority religious heritage, calling the structures important elements of Pakistan’s multicultural history. MNA Kesoo Mal Kheal Das noted many shrines were abandoned after the 1947 Partition when local Hindu and Sikh communities migrated to India, and he urged authorities to preserve the buildings as cultural landmarks and to make them accessible to domestic and international pilgrims.
The caucus also discussed education and social reforms for minorities, proposing removal of hateful material from school textbooks, expanded scholarships for minority students, and introducing an equivalent benefit to the 20-mark Hifz-i-Quran quota for non-Muslim learners. Members pressed for higher job quotas for minorities and requested that senior bureaucrats attend future caucus meetings to improve accountability.
The committee unanimously adopted its Terms of Reference and reiterated its commitment to uphold constitutional ideals of equality, religious harmony and social justice. The report and the caucus’s recommendations were reported by Dawn and distributed via ANI.
