LAHORE (Kashmir English): The Government of Punjab has rejected the reports claiming that a more than 100-year-old Hindu temple in Siraj village of Narowal District was demolished to facilitate the expansion of an adjoining seminary.
In a statement issued on X, the government said that the report published by Dawn is contrary to the facts, stating that the temple collapsed due to torrential rainfall on August 21, 2026.
The publisher, citing a minority rights group chairman, reported that the adjoining land of the temple had been leased to a seminary, but its own land had never been leased to anyone.
However, according to the government, the Minister for Minorities Affairs, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, visited the Hindu temple site and found just a portion of the temple collapsed due to torrential rainfall, which the government has committed to restore.
⭕️ *The recent Dawn report concerns a more than 100 year old Hindu Temple in Siraj Village, District Narowal, which collapsed due to torrential rainfall on August 21, 2026.*
⭕️ Contrary to what the Dawn has claimed, *the adjoining land had been leased to a seminary, but the… pic.twitter.com/0EDNWs3Rad
— Government of Punjab (@GovtofPunjabPK) September 1, 2026
“Responsible journalism should certainly report allegations. But it must clearly distinguish between an allegation, a claim, and a fact,” the government’s statement added.
It stated that “when a matter involves a sensitive issue such as a religious place of worship, the responsibility to verify every claim becomes even greater.”
“Once a narrative suggesting religious persecution gains momentum, the damage to communal harmony, Pakistan’s image, and public trust may be irreparable,” it said.
