IHC reserves verdict on appeal against construction of temple in Islamabad

Do you want Muslims in other countries to be treated like this, asks court

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) reserved the verdict on Tuesday on the intra-court appeal against the previous verdict of the IHC, wherein the court disposed of petitions against the construction of a temple in the federal capital.

The court cannot allow Pakistan to be ruled like India, remarked IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, heading the two-member bench which heard the petition arguing against the construction and the decision of the previous single-member bench.

During the hearing, the petitioner's lawyer maintained that the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is based on Islam. The lawyer contended that the construction of a temple cannot be allowed in a Muslim state and that the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) did not have authority in administrative matters.

Should minorities leave the country, asked Justice Minallah. The court cannot allow Pakistan to be run like India, he remarked.

"What you are doing is not good for Muslims living in other countries either. You are a Muslim, your faith is strong. Do you want Muslims in other countries to be treated like this," he asked. "What happened in New Zealand? What was the conduct of the prime minister of New Zealand?"

He asked the petitioner's lawyer to look at the rights of minorities as stated in the Constitution of Pakistan. The court reserved the verdict on the intra-court appeal against the decision by a single-member IHC bench on the construction of the temple in Islamabad.

The IHC had earlier disposed of three petitions against the construction of the temple citing that “no occasion arises for this court to interfere”. However, the court had stated that “in future, if the petitioners have any grievance in the matter they may agitate the matter again.”