No funds released for temple, court told

IHC hears that land was allotted to Hindu Panchayat in 2018 for a temple, crematorium

ISLAMABAD:

Despite claims from opponents, the government on Monday told a court that it has yet to release any money for the construction of a temple in the federal capital.

This was disclosed as a single-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Justice Aamer Farooq, heard multiple petitions on the construction of a Hindu temple in Sector H-9 of the federal capital.

During the hearing, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Raja Khalid Mehmood appeared before the court and maintained that the federal government has not released any funds for the construction of the temple. He also refuted reports that the government has released Rs100 million for the project.

He said that the federal government has referred the matter to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).

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The court then asked the representative for the Capital Development Authority (CDA) about the purpose for which the plot will be used.

CDA’s Planning director said had been allotted to the Hindu community for either building a temple, a community centre or a crematorium.

He added that the plot was allotted to the Hindu community after receiving recommendations from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Special Branch of the Islamabad Police as well as the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration.

At this, the court inquired if the CDA had received a building plan from the Hindu community for the construction of the temple - a prerequisite for the construction of any building in the federal capital. The CDA representative, however, responded in the negative.

The planning director further contended that other minorities were also allotted plots for graveyards during the 1990s.

As an example, he said that the CDA had initially planned to build an orchard scheme. But the site was later allocated for the construction of a graveyard for Muslims, adding that burial sites for other minorities were also allowed later. The CDA official maintained that sites for cemeteries of other communities including Christians were also located near the land allocated for the temple.

Islamabad Hindu temple issue lands in CII​​​​​​​

Some 3.38 Kanal land was earmarked in 2017 and it was handed over to Hindu Panchayat in 2018, he said.

However, the official said that construction on the temple has been halted as the Panchayat did not submit the building plan for approval.

After all sides completed their arguments in two of the petitions, the court adjourned the hearing until Tuesday (today) for hearing arguments in the last petition on the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2020.