Weren’t Hindus in Pakistan been allowed to celebrate Shivratri for the last 100 years?

An image is going viral on social media in which a mass of people had gathered on the streets. The caption with the image reads that the visual is of Shivratri celebration in Pakistan in 1920 but now everything had vanished since last 100 years.

Fact Crescendo found the claim to be false. Hindus in Pakistan are still celebrating Shivratri. No ban on the celebration of the same festival has been introduced.

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Fact Check-

Google Reverse Image Search led us to the same image uploaded on a website called Paper Jewels. According to the which, this image is of Maha Shivratri festival celebration in Clifton, Karachi in 1920.

Similar postcards can also be seen on Paper Jewel’s Instagram Account.

Has Pakistan Banned the Shivratri festival?

After running various keywords, we came across a report published by Prabhat Khabar on 28 February 2022. According to the report, five devotees of Lord Shiva from Bihar reached Katas Raj Temple near Lahore, Pakistan to perform Jalabhishek on Maha Shivratri.

These devotees were selected under the Indo-Pak Agreement 1972. Under this agreement every year 200 people from India go to Katas Raj bearing their own expenses.

On 26 February 2022, Tribune India reported that due to the pandemic situation caused by Omicron, the Katas Raj pilgrimage from 27 February to 4 March had been cancelled by the Ministry of External Affairs. Ministry refused to give permission to 118 applicants.

A YouTube search led us to a video uploaded by former Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria and his wife on 21 February 2020. According to the footnote, this video is from Pakistan’s Shree Ratneswar Temple. Danish and his wife were greeting people on the occasion of Maha Shivratri through the video. The crowd and celebration of Maha Shivratri can be seen in this video.

Other verified YouTube channels uploaded videos from different years showing the Shivratri celebration in Pakistan. These videos can be seen here, here and here.

On 6 February 2020, Gulf News reported that Pakistan prepared for the major Hindu festival Maha Shivratri in which 1500 Hindus across the country participated in the festival. A large number of Hindus from the UK also travelled to Pakistan to participate.

Conclusion:

Fact Crescendo found the claim to be false. Pakistan has not imposed any kind of ban on Shivratri. This festival is being celebrated in Pakistan every year with a large number of Hindus across the world participating in it.