Construction of the temple is anti-Islam or a step towards Jinnah’s Pakistan?
The project is facing difficulties just days after the district administration of the federal capital Islamabad allocated space for a Hindu temple. A mufti of a well-known Jamia Ashrafia madrassa has issued a fatwa against it and a lawyer has applied to the Islamabad High Court to stop its construction.
Jinnah’s dream
On June 23, Parliamentary Secretary for Human Rights Lal Chand Malhi inaugurated the construction work on the land approved for the temple in a simple ceremony.
The site was allotted to the local Hindu Council in 2017, but construction could not begin because the Hindu community did not have the resources. Now the Prime Minister has announced Rs 100 million for the first phase of construction.
“This will be the first temple to be built in Islamabad in many centuries,” Lal Chand Malhi said in a Twitter message on the occasion. The government has allocated four kanals of land. Pakistan Zindabad.’
Particiapted in ground breaking ceremony of #Kirshna #temple at Islamabad H-9 sector, organized by #Hindu Panchayat Isb. It will be first ever temple in #Islamabad since centuries. The govt provided 4 canals of land for construction of temple. Long live Pakistan.@SMQureshiPTI pic.twitter.com/ucd9Umocb9
— LAL MALHI (@LALMALHI) June 23, 2020
As soon as it was announced, construction of four walls started at this place.
Parliamentary Secretary Lal Chand Mali told the BBC that the Islamabad Hindu Panchayat wanted to build a large complex on the site, which would have a temple, a place for arrangements for last rites, anchorage, and community use rooms. According to initial estimates, Rs. 50 crore is required for the construction of the complex.
Demands by the Pakistani Hindus
There are about 800,000 Hindus in Pakistan, most of whom live in Umerkot, Tharparkar and Mirpur districts of Sindh. The number of Hindus living in Islamabad is about 3,000.
Former President of Islamabad Hindu Panchayat Pratam Das is one of the people who came to Islamabad from Tharparkar in 1973.
“I am just one of the first people to come here. I came when this city was six years old. Now the Hindu population here has increased significantly.
There was a small temple in the Saidpur area of Islamabad which was rebuilt when the area was declared a national heritage site. It was a symbolic building that could not meet the needs of the Hindu community here.
“It was becoming very difficult for the community to perform their rituals,” says Pratam Das. We had no place for the last rites. We did not have a community center where we could celebrate Diwali or Holi. I’m glad the government finally listened to us. “
Fatwa against Krishna Complex
Jamia Ashrafia Deobandi School of Thought in Lahore is a madrassa located on Ferozepur Road. It was built in 1947 and thousands of Deobandi scholars have graduated from it. It is one of the most important centers of Deobandi school of thought.
A spokesman for the madrassa said that Mufti Muhammad Zakaria has been associated with the madrassa for the past two decades.
In his fatwa, Mufti Muhammad Zakaria said that according to Islam, it is permissible to maintain and maintain the places of worship of minorities, but the construction of new places of worship is not allowed.
He also gave historical examples for his fatwa.
Speaking to the BBC, Mufti Muhammad Zakaria said that he had issued the fatwa in response to questions from citizens.
“We try to inform people in the light of the Qur’an and Sunnah. We do not create anything by ourselves. I think the construction of new temples in the Islamic State is un-Islamic.
Asked if he would do anything if the government did not listen to him, he said, “We have no power to force the government. We can only guide. In terms of religion, we have done our job.
Maulana Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Inqalabi, a spokesman for Jamia Ashrafia, told the BBC that the fatwa was not intended to confront anyone, it was just an answer to the religious question of citizens.
Legal barriers
A lawyer in Islamabad has also approached the court over the government’s allotment of land for the temple and a halt to construction work.
Petitioner Chaudhry Tanveer Advocate, while giving arguments in favor of his application, said that the development agency of Islamabad (CDA) had violated the master plan of the federal capital by allocating land for construction of a temple in Sector H-9 of the city. What has been done is illegal.
He said that not only land was illegally provided for the construction of the temple by the wise institution but also funds were released for the cost of its construction.
However, the Islamabad High Court has refused to issue a restraining order against the construction of a temple for performing Hindu religious rites in the federal capital.
However, the court asked the CDA officials to come to the next hearing and submit their reply regarding the violation of the master plan.
Political reaction
The Speaker of the Pakistan Assembly and senior politician of the country Pervez Elahi has also opposed the construction of this temple.
In a video message on social media, he said that Pakistan was built in the name of Islam and the construction of a new temple in Islamabad was not only against Islam but also against the state of Madinah.
He said that the Prophet of Islam had destroyed 360 idols after the conquest of Mecca.
He added that he and his party had fought for the rights of minorities, but believed that only built temples should be run.
As the Chief Minister of Punjab, he had also ordered the reconstruction of the Katas Raj Temple.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that minorities in the country should be treated equally during his tenure
I want to warn our people that anyone in Pakistan targeting our non-Muslim citizens or their places of worship will be dealt with strictly. Our minorities are equal citizens of this country.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) February 26, 2020
