Sialkot: Pakistan on Monday re-opened a 1000-year-old Sialkot's Shawala Teja Singh Temple that was sealed for the last 72 years.
The temple was built by Sardar Teja Singh and was closed during partition. Hindus stopped visiting the temple after a mob damaged it in 1992 while protesting against the demolition of the Babri Mosque in India.
According to media reports, the step was taken on the direction of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Deputy Commissioner of Sialkot Bilal Haider said, "People are free to visit the temple anytime."
The government also said that the work to preserve and restore the temple will start soon.
A survey carried out by All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement Pakistan's revealed that out of 428 Hindu temples in Pakistan only around 20 survive today. Nearly 1000 active and former Hindu temples were attacked in retaliation following the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.
