Pak govt pledges to rebuild Hindu temple vandalized by miscreants

Agencies
January 1, 2021

Islamabad, Jan 1: Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said on Friday that his government will rebuild a Hindu temple that was vandalised and set on fire by a mob in the province early this week.

Addressing a health card distribution ceremony in Peshawar, Chief Minister Khan said the government has issued orders to rebuild the temple.

The attack on the temple in Terri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (KP) Karak district on Wednesday drew strong condemnation from human rights activists and the minority Hindu community leaders.

Khan vowed to protect the religious sites of minorities and said the police has arrested several suspects involved in the temple attack.

Over 45 people, mostly members of a radical Islamist party, have been arrested for destroying the temple. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Rehmat Salam Khattak was among those arrested.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Khan's Special Assistant for Information and spokesman for the KP government Kamran Bangash said that the provincial government has ordered authorities to reconstruct the damaged temple.

Deputy Commissioner and District Police Officer Karak have been issued directives to take immediate steps for reconstructing the temple, Bangash said.

The government is bound to give protection to the minorities and their worship places, he added.

The temple was attacked by the mob after members of the Hindu community received permission from local authorities to renovate its decades-old building, according to witnesses.

The mob, led by a local cleric and supporters of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party (Fazal ur Rehman group), demolished the newly constructed work alongside the old structure, they said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday took notice of the attack and ordered the local authorities to appear before the court on January 5.

According to a statement by the apex court, Hindu lawmaker and the Pakistan Hindu Council chief Ramesh Kumar Vankwani called on Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed in Karachi to discuss the issue.

"The chief justice of Pakistan showed grave concern over the tragic incident and informed the member of parliament that he has already taken cognisance of the issue and has fixed the matter before court on January 5, at Islamabad," according to the statement.

The court has issued directions to one-man Commission on Minorities Rights, KP chief secretary and KP inspector general of police to visit the site and submit a report on January 4.

Meanwhile, a commission on rights of minorities headed by Dr. Shuaib Suddle along with lawmaker Ramesh Kumar and Chief Secretary Dr. Kaazim Niaz on Friday visited the temple, which was vandalised by the mob.

The delegates held meeting with the members of the local peace committee and the Hindu community and condemned the unfortunate incident.

The peace committee members disowned the tragic incident, saying the attackers were not from the local community or resident of Karak district.

Chairman of the commission Dr. Suddle and Member of National Assembly Ramesh Kumar expressed confidence in the steps taken by the KP Government to pacify the situation.

The commission head and MNA Ramesh Kumar also met Chief Minister Khan in Peshawar and exchanged views over the incident. The commission condemned the incident in strong words.

Chief Minister Khan has assured the commission that strict action would be taken against culprits involved in the incident.

Leader of Hindu Community Peshawar Haroon Sarab Diyal said that a samadhi of a Hindu religious leader exists at the temple site and Hindu families from across the country do visit the samadhi on every Thursday.

The Samadhi of Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj is considered sacred by the Hindu community. It was built where he died in 1919 in Teri village of Karak.

The controversy over the samadhi erupted many decades ago.

According to the details submitted to the Supreme Court in 2014 in a case about it, the Hindus had been visiting the shrine till 1997 when it was dismantled by the locals.

The apex court in 2014 ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to restore and reconstruct the Hindu shrine.

The order was issued over a petition of a Hindu lawmaker who had claimed that the shrine had been occupied by an influential cleric of the area.

Hindus form the biggest minority community in Pakistan.

According to official estimates, 75 lakh Hindus live in Pakistan. However, according to the community, over 90 lakh Hindus are living in the country.

The majority of Pakistan's Hindu population is settled in Sindh province where they share culture, traditions and language with Muslim residents. They often complain of harassment by the extremists.

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News Network
January 19,2026

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Donald Trump has linked his repeated threats to seize Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

The authenticity of the letter, in which Trump says he no longer feels obligated to “think purely of peace,” was confirmed by Støre to the Norwegian newspaper VG.

“Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace,” Trump wrote, adding he can now “think about what is good and proper for the United States.”

Støre said Trump’s letter was in response to a short message he had sent earlier, on behalf of himself and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb.

Trump has escalated rhetoric toward Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, insisting the US will take control “one way or the other.” Over the weekend, he tweeted: “Now it is time, and it will be done!!!”

On Saturday, Trump threatened a 10% tariff on imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland from 1 February until the US is allowed to purchase the island. EU diplomats met for emergency talks on possible retaliatory tariffs and sanctions.

In his letter, Trump argued Denmark “cannot protect” Greenland from Russia or China, questioning Danish ownership: “There are no written documents; it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago.” He added that NATO should support the US, claiming the world is “not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland.”

Trump’s stance has unsettled the EU and NATO, as he refused to rule out military action to take control of the mineral-rich island.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the independent Norwegian Nobel Committee, not the government. Trump had campaigned for last year’s prize, which went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who dedicated her award to him.

Støre reiterated that the Nobel Prize decision rests solely with the committee.

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News Network
January 31,2026

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The US Department of Justice has released millions of new documents linked to the case of convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, before removing some pages that contained complaints mentioning President Donald Trump.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday that approximately 3.5 million files were published to comply with the Epstein Transparency Act, following criticism that the administration had missed a December 19 deadline set by Congress.

The documents include FBI communications and complaints submitted as tips, some of which list comments mentioning Trump and others who had social or professional ties to Epstein.

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to his past association with Epstein.

Pages removed from DOJ website

After their publication, pages containing complaints that mentioned Trump were removed from the DOJ website and now return a “page not found” message. Copies of the documents, however, have circulated widely on social media. CNN anchor Jake Tapper was among those who publicly noted that the pages had been taken down.

One complaint, filed by a friend of a victim, says Trump forced a girl aged 13–14 to perform “oral sex” approximately 35 years ago in New Jersey. The document states that an investigator was sent to Washington to conduct an interview.

Another complaint says Trump regularly paid an individual to perform sexual acts and adds that he was present when her newborn child was murdered by a relative. The paperwork notes that there was “no contact made” with the complainant.

A separate complaint, which provided no contact information, said “calendar girls” parties at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago involved children and sexual abuse. The document also names several public figures as present at such events.

In another account, a complainant said they witnessed a “sex trafficking ring” at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, in the mid-1990s. The person noted “threats” from Trump’s head of security if she spoke publicly about what she had seen.

Other figures mentioned in the files

The latest release also includes a draft email Epstein wrote to himself in 2013, referring to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. In the message, Epstein said Gates asked him to delete emails and referenced “personal matters.”

The DOJ has not provided a detailed explanation for why certain pages were removed after publication. The department said the document release was ongoing.

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News Network
January 20,2026

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Iranian security and intelligence forces have captured more than 470 individuals in three provinces, identified as key figures behind the recent wave of violent unrest and terrorist activities linked to foreign-backed networks.

The Intelligence Ministry's provincial office in Khorasan Razavi announced on Monday the arrest of 192 armed terrorists, identified as the main agents behind recent riots in the region. 

According to an official statement, the detainees were involved in the killing of several security personnel and civilians, setting fire to mosques, public service facilities, and buses, as well as attacks on military and law enforcement centers.

The seized items from the group include several bulletproof vests, Kalashnikov rifles, hunting weapons, Winchester rifles, and various cold weapons such as daggers, swords, brass knuckles, tactical knives, crossbows, and chains.

Evidence indicates that some of the individuals were tied to hostile movements and terrorist organizations, with links overseas. Others were identified as members of violent criminal gangs, actively taking part in the unrest alongside their associates.

Simultaneously, in the western province of Lorestan, the IRGC announced the arrest of 134 individuals as the main leaders and influential field agents of a US-Israeli terrorist network.

The IRGC statement stated that these individuals formed terrorist cells during the recent unrest, committing "Daesh-like" acts.

They wounded security forces with firearms and cold weapons, and burned and destroyed public and private properties, including mosques, shops, banks, and private and public vehicles.

In the northwestern province of Zanjan, the police reported detaining 150 people identified as principal leaders and agents behind recent riots.

Authorities noted that these individuals were responsible for destroying public and private property and intentionally setting fire to vehicles in the province's squares.

Their crimes include shedding the blood of innocent people, destroying public and private property, attempting to enter military sites, disrupting public order, and spreading terror among citizens.

A variety of cold weapons were reportedly seized from the detainees.

What began late last month as peaceful protests over economic hardship across Iran turned violent after public statements by US and Israeli regime figures encouraged vandalism and disorder.

During the unrest, foreign-backed mercenaries rampaged through cities, killing security forces and civilians and damaging public property.

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