Construction of Hindu temple not allowed in Islamabad

at 5:36 pm
The ceremony for the temple was performed recently by Parliamentary Secretary on Human Rights Lal Chand Malhi.

New Delhi (NVI): The construction of a temple in Islamabad has been reportedly stopped by Pakistan’s Capital Development Authority (CDA) amid protests by some religious groups who have said that building of a temple in the capital is against the country’s ideology, according to media reports.

The leaders of several religious parties held a joint press conference in Islamabad recently and said that building a temple on the taxes of Muslims can’t be tolerated in Pakistan, reported The Nation.

CDA has said that the construction was stopped for not having an approved building plan, according to media reports.

However, a video has gone viral on social media, showing a person vandalising the boundary wall of the structure. The video has claimed that this is the Krishna temple in Islamabad whose construction work has been halted by Hindu Panchayat.

In another tweet, Human Rights activist Kapil Dev has shared snapshots of Twitter posts by the person who has allegedly vandalised the temple structure. The person identified as Malik Shani Awan has proudly claimed to have demolished the foundation of the temple.


At the joint press conference by religious groups held on June 1, the Chief of Jamiat Ulema e Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Islamabad chapter Maulana Abdul Hameed Hazarvi said that they were going to raise the issue in the Shariat Court, The Nation reported.

He also targeted the Imran Khan-led government, saying that it has lost its way as they had spent billions on Kartarpur Corridor and now they were going to build a temple in the capital city of the country.

Also present on the occasion, Maulana Tanvir Alvi said that all the sects of Islam were agreed upon a point that no temple or church can be built in a Muslim country. Although he said that the old and existing temples and churches can be repaired when needed.

The religious affairs ministry of Pakistan has also echoed similar concern stating that it only helped renovate places of worship belonging to religious minorities and did not build new ones, reported The Dawn.

A joint team of the CDA’s enforcement and building control departments reached the site of the temple in H-9/2 area On Friday, and directed workers to stop constructing the boundary wall.

The Hindu Panchayat Islamabad stopped the work and has decided to approach the CDA tomorrow to seek permission for commencing the construction.

According to media reports, Pakistan PM Imran Khan has earlier approved grants of Rs100 million for the building of the temple in Islamabad. In 2017, the PML-N government had allotted almost 20,000 square feet land for the temple but the construction was delayed due to administrative issues, reported The Nation.

As per plans, the Krishna temple will come up in a 20,000 sq ft plot in Islamabad’s H-9 administrative division. The ceremony for the temple was performed recently by Parliamentary Secretary on Human Rights Lal Chand Malhi. Reportedly, this is the first Hindu temple in the Pakistan capital.

Islamabad has a Hindu population of around 3,000. A large number of doctors form this population, besides government and private sector employees and members of the business community.

Hindus form the biggest minority community in Pakistan but they are struggling to survive amid constant threats from certain religious and extremist groups.

This is not the first instance of a Hindu temple being vandalised in Pakistan. All idols of Hindu Gods were destroyed in a local temple at Golarchi area of Badin in Sindh-Pakistan last month, as 102 Hindu men, women and children were converted to Islam in Badin district.

In January this year, a Hindu temple was vandalised by miscreants in Pakistan’s Sindh. The attackers entered the Mata Rani Bhatiyani temple in Chachro, Tharparkar, and desecrated holy scriptures and idol. The mob also blackened the face of the goddess’ idol.

-ARK

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