On July 16^th, a robber gang with rocket launchers attacked a Hindu temple in the Southern Sindh province of Pakistan. This marked the second violent act against a Hindu place of worship in only a few days, after bulldozers, with the approval and supervision of the police, razed the sacred 150-year-old Mari Mata Temple in Karachi on July 14^th.

Reports estimate that eight or nine gunmen were involved in the attack, which Kashmore-Kandhkot SSP Irfan Sammo, who leads the local police unit, said happened in the “early hours” of the 16^th. The dacoits “fired indiscriminately” at the temple and at neighbouring houses owned by members of the Hindu community, Sammo reported, “and fled when a police party reached the spot.” Luckily, the rockets used in the attack failed to operate correctly, resulting in no deaths. Sammo’s unit is “conducting a search operation in the area” for more information, the SSP said.

The attack, like many of the recent threats posed by groups in the Kashmore and Ghotki areas, directly targeted Hindu holy places in retaliation to the love story of Seema Haider Jakhrani, who fled Pakistan to live with an Indian man she met in 2019. The two fell in love online while playing the battle royale game PUBG. Police arrested Seema on July 4^th for illegally entering India along with her four children.

After Seema’s arrest and the following directed attacks, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (H.R.C.P.) demanded the Sindh Home Department urgently investigate Seema’s case. The H.R.C.P. has since said that it is “alarmed by reports of deteriorating law and order in the districts of Kashmore and Ghotki in Sindh, where some 30 members of the Hindu community – including women and children – have allegedly been held hostage by organized criminal gangs.”

The Hindu community is a vulnerable minority in Pakistan. The majority of the nation’s Hindu population lives in Sindh, where they share cultural traditions and beliefs with their Muslim neighbours, and Karachi specifically is home to many ancient temples where the Hindu community worships. The recent attacks have shattered the perceived safety of their havens, leaving the community horrified and panicking about where the next target may be.

This tale of love is having tragic consequences. As threats of retaliation begin to rise, action must be taken to prevent further violence from breaking out.