Are Hindus not allowed to celebrate Shivratri in Pakistan for the last 100 years? Know the truth.

Now a photo is going viral on social media. This photo is from the year 1920 during Shivratri celebrations in Karachi, Pakistan. The post claims that Hindus have not been allowed to celebrate Shivaratri in Pakistan for the past 100 years.

However, Fact Crescendo found the claim to be false. Hindus in Pakistan are celebrating Maha Shivratri every year in Pakistan. 

What’s The Claim? 

Sharing the image, social media users are claiming that the image was taken in 1920 when Shivratri was celebrated in Pakistan, but for the last 100 years, this celebration had disappeared from the country. 

Facebook | Archive

Fact Check- 

We first tried to find out if this photo is of the Shivratri festival in Karachi. On the bottom right hand side of the photo was written “Johnny Stores Postcards”. After doing a Google search using these keywords, we found this photo published on a website called Paper Jewels. You can see many postcards like this on Paper Jewels Instagram account

After this, we found out about the public holidays in the year 2023 declared by the Pakistan government. We found out that Shivratri along with few other Hindu festivals were listed under optional holidays. 

According to the Hindustan Times report published on 16 February 2023, a group of Hindu people had prepared to visit Pakistan’s Katas Raj Temple to celebrate Maha Shivrati. Pakistan high command had also issued visas to 114 pilgrims. 

This proves that the celebration of Shivratri still holds its value in Pakistan. 

We found some news websites publishing photos of Shivratri celebrations in Pakistan. According to Dawn News dated March 7, 2016, Hindu devotees had celebrated Shivaratri at Sri Ratneshwar Temple in Clifton area of Karachi. In the year 2020 Gulf News website also reported that Indian pilgrims had celebrated Shivratri at the Shiva Temple in Mansehra, Pakistan.  

A keyword search on YouTube led us to a video of former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria and his wife uploaded on 21 February 2020. According to the video’s footnote, this video is from Sri Ratneshwar temple in Pakistan. In the video, Danish Kaneria wishes everyone on the occasion of Shivaratri festival. His wife also mentioned in the video that on Shivratri, a huge fair was organized there and many devotees came for darshan of Bholenath. 

Conclusion: 

Fact Crescendo found the claim to be false. Pakistan did not impose any kind of ban on the celebration of Maha Shivratri. Every year devotees meet at temples and celebrate Shivratri.