CJP Gulzar Ahmed to attend Diwali celebrations at Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

• PHC invites CJP Ahmed to Diwali celebrations at century-old Teri Temple.
• Around 1,500 Hindu pilgrims to reach Hassanabdal to attend the festival.
• The temple has been attacked and vandalised twice, first in 1997, and later in 2020.

ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed will attend Diwali celebrations at the Teri Temple, in the Karak area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the invitation of the Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) on Monday, a news story published by Dawn read.

Per the report, the participation of the CJP is meant to express solidarity with the resident Hindus and pilgrims arriving at the temple from Sindh and Balochistan to perform their religious rituals on the occasion.

Apart from the CJP, other officials and dignitaries have also been invited by the PHC at the grand event to mark the Hindu festival of lights.

The publication quoted PHC Patron-in-Chief and MNA Ramesh Kumar as saying that the presence of senior officials at the function would send a "strong message to the miscreants that the state will thwart their evil plans to create a divide among different sects in Pakistan."

Meanwhile, the PHC has requested the assistance of the Evacuee Trust Property Board to facilitate around 1,500 Hindu pilgrims, who will reach Hassanabdal to attend the festival at the century-old temple of Teri.

According to Dawn, the pilgrims have already started arriving at Hassanabdal, from where they will proceed to the Teri area of Karak on Monday and return the same day.

The publication states that the temple has been attacked and vandalised twice, first in 1997, and later in 2020, and the Supreme Court of Pakistan has taken action for the restoration and penalisation of the culprits involved in both instances.