Pakistan and India have not shared very cordial relations in the past since partition and that has an impact on the religions as well. There have been instances where the religious places of both Hindus and Muslims have been damaged and one such place was the Shawala Teja Singh temple located in Sialkot. The centuries-old temple was finally reopened after 72 years for the public where they can now perform their religious duties and pray whenever they like. The temple has been closed since 1992 and it was done as the Hindu community had stopped visiting it to pray.
The reason for the community not coming was that a mob attacked damaged the temple in 1992 when there were protests going on for the demolition of the Barbari Masjid in India. The temple was reopened on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan. According to Deputy Commissioner Bilal Haider, the temple was reopened with the help of Evacuee Trust Property Board who helped them to reopen the temple. The commissioner said that as the temple is now reopened, people can come here anytime they want to perform their religious rituals and pray. The temple also is great sightseeing for the tourists as well who come here in numbers to visit it.
The Hindu community praised the decision taken by the Prime Minister to open the temple for their convenience. The people said that they thank the government for opening their temple and they would like to visit here whenever they can. The government said that they not only wanted to open the temple but they also want to preserve it. According to the officials, they will be soon starting the work to preserve and to restore the temple into the previous looks so that people can come whenever they want.
