New Delhi (NVI): In a clear reflection of apartheid against minority Hindus in Pakistan, Muslim seminaries have issued ‘fatwas’ (religious edicts) against construction of a temple in Islamabad.
The fatwas have been issued after protests by Muslim extremists, which forced Pakistan’s Capital Development Authority (CDA) to halt last week construction of the first ever Hindu temple in Islamabad citing the country’s Islamic ideology.
In its fatwa, Jamia Ashrafia said that while it is permitted to spend government funds on the upkeep and repair of prevailing houses of worship of minority communities, this did not allow for building new houses of worship for non-Muslims.
It further stated that in allowing Hindus to build new places of worship or to rebuild an abandoned place of worship in an Islamic state is un-Islamic as it is equivalent to aiding in a bad deed, which isn’t permissible.
The fatwa was issued after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan approved a grant of Rs 100 million for construction of first Hindu temple in Islamabad, a Krishna temple.
Another Fatwa issued by Lahore’s Barelvi seminary, Jamia Naeemia, said an Islamic state can’t use the public money to build a new place of worship for non-Muslims.
After construction of the temple was halted last week, its boundary wall was demolished by extremists and the materials from the Temple site were stolen.
People stole about a ton of iron from the site and overpowered security guards, on Monday night, Islamabad Police said, adding that it is the fourth time that people have tried to trespass, vandalize and rob from the site.
On July 2, General Secretary of Islamabad Hindu Panchayat Mahesh Kumar Malhi had written a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Islamabad Capital Territory, requesting deployment of security for construction of the boundary wall of Temple after hype was created on social media against its construction.
Reportedly, at a 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 newspaper reported.
Another Maulvi Maulana Tanvir Alvi said all the sects of Islam were agreed upon a point that no temple or church can be built in a Muslim country.
-CHK
