IIUI told to vacate Faisal Mosque premises

Senate panel directs CDA to evict varsity from the facility

ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel on Tuesday asked the International Islamic University to vacate the premises of the Faisal Mosque which it had illegally occupied.

The directions were issued during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Cabinet Secretariat which met at the Cabinet Secretariat with Senator Talha Mehmood in the chair.

Faisal Mosque’s Deputy Director Muhammad Tahir told the committee that IIUI had been allotted land of the mosque, but only for a limited period of time.

With the period expiring, the IIUI have refused to vacate the mosque’s premises, he added.

“The IIUI already possess 745 acres of land which was allotted to them by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) after its establishment,” Tahir said, adding that the IIUI management has also established a number of illegal offices within the vicinity of the mosque including a cafeteria and a store.

He further accused the IIUI administration of using $1 million grant which had been given to the mosque by the Saudi government.

Senator Kulsoom Parveen said that while the Faisal Mosque was an epitome of beauty, the illegal occupation had blighted this beauty.

Senator Kamil Ali Agha also expressed his dismay over the matter and urged that it should be included in the agenda of the committee’s next meeting. A majority of the senators backed his stance.

Taking strict notice of the matter, the Senator Mahmood directed CDA officials to ensure that the mosque’s illegally occupied premises are evacuated as soon as possible.

The committee also summoned Higher Education Commission’s Chairman Mukhtar Ahmed at its next session.



Rawal Dam poisoning

Replying to a question asked by Senator Parveen, CDA officials briefed the committee about the recent incident where thousands of dead fish floated to the surface of the Rawal Dam.

The civic agency’s officials said that laboratory test of the water showed that it contained large amounts of faecal matter belonging to humans and poultry. Moreover, the oxygen levels in the lake’s water had also plunged resulting in the deaths. They ruled out poisoning.

The officials further said that administrative control of Rawal Dam belongs to the Punjab government.

In response to this, Senator Agha said that owing to contaminated water supplied from the Rawal Dam, half of Rawalpindi’s population was now suffering from hepatitis.

CDA deputations

CDA officials also told the committee that a number of its employees were on deputation. On this, Senator Parveen said that CDA had misconstrued the Supreme Court’s order on deputations and had reportedly fired all deputed officers hailing from Balochistan.

The committee’s chairman said that CDA, in violation of its developmental plan, had allotted plots measuring 600 yards and called irrelevant officers from different institutions on deputations in order to give them undue benefit.

Senator Parveen added that some of the plots were also allotted to beauty parlours.

Later, the committee deferred the matter until their next meeting to review the matter in detail.

Outlining the capital’s master plan, CDA officials said that the first plan was designed in 1960. Over the years, it has undergone several changes. These changes, the senators said, had destroyed the beauty of the city.

Senator Mahmood added that CDA’s weak legal department had also caused massive financial losses to the organisation and despite repeated reminders, the CDA has failed to strengthen the department.

The deputy director of CDA’s legal team told the committee that they currently have 106 employees who have secured a number of legal battles, the most prominent of which was the Grand Hyatt Hotel case.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2017.