from the government on its efforts to ensure access for the minority Hindu community to temples – the Karachi bench of the apex court was hearing applications against the alleged denial of access to the members of the minority community. In 2010 also, 57 Hindus were forced to convert by their employer as his sales dropped after Muslims started boycotting his eatable items as they were prepared by Hindus. Since the impoverished Hindus had no other way to earn and needed to keep the job to survive, hence they converted. A Pakistan Muslim League politician has stated that abduction of Hindus and Sikhs is a business in Pakistan, along with conversions of Hindus to Islam. Forced conversion, rape, and forced marriages of Hindu women in Pakistan have recently become very controversial in Pakistan. Although Hindus were frequently soft targets in Pakistan, the rise of Taliban forces in the political arena has particularly unsettled the already fragile situation for the minority community. Increasing persecution, ostracism from locals and lack of a social support system is forcing more and more Hindus to flee to India. This has been observed in the past whenever the conflicts between the two nations escalated, but this has been a notable trend in view of the fact the recent developments are due to internal factors almost exclusively. The Taliban have used false methods of luring, as well as the co-operation of zealots within local authorities to perpetrate religious cleansing. In 2012, a century-old temple demolished in Karachi, Pakistan, along with several houses, leaving nearly 40 Hindus homeless. Following the demolition, the Pakistan Hindu Council organised a protest outside of Karachi Press Club. Prakash, one of the members of the council said "They destroyed our mandir and humiliated our gods". According to local residents, the demolition team taken away the gold jewellery and crowns of the Hindu deities. "They hit me with their guns when I tried to stop them. I told them to kill me instead of destroying out holy place", states, one of the residents, Lakshman. According to one elderly resident, identified as Kaali Das, the area around the temple had over 150 Hindu families and due to the demolition, the families, including the children, spent the nights in the open. "If you don't want us, we will go to India", screamed one of the women. Maharaj Badri, who lived inside the temple, said that, "Our