High court verdict: Historical Hindu temple to reopen doors this Diwali
The Goraknath Temple, situated in the city’s archaeological complex Gor Kattri, will open for worship on the Hindu festival of Diwali, which falls on October 26 this year.
“In accordance with the September 15 verdict of the Peshawar High Court, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Department of Archaeology handed over the temple’s keys to Phoolvati and her son Kaka Ram last week,” their attorney Pervez Iqbal told The Express Tribune.
A provincial minister is expected to attend the reopening ceremony of the temple, said Iqbal who spent almost a decade pursuing protracted litigation to win custody of the temple on behalf of Phoolvati.
Although Phoolvati and her son are now custodians of the temple, authorities have barred them from renovating the building, saying it is ‘protected’ property and changes cannot be made to it.
“We will fully support them [the custodians] and they can use the temple for worship or other religious activities at any time but they must avoid alterations,” Dr Abdul Samad, a consultant for the archaeology department, said.
But Iqbal says the temple has suffered from six decades of neglect and is in dire need of basic renovation. “The temple’s holy well is clogged with garbage and needs to be cleaned. Some years ago, authorities encroached upon the temple’s property to construct a park,” Iqbal said.
Kaka Ram has met Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Sports Minister Aqeel Shah, who directed senior officials of the archaeology department to provide the requisite facilities to the Hindu community.
In the long battle for its custody, the temple has changed many hands. The complex where the temple is located was named the city police headquarters and thus used for storing explosives. Later, in 2000, the police vacated its offices to police lines and the Peshawar Development Authority took over the temple.
Correction: An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated Diwali's date as October 30. Correction has been made.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2011.
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@Ali Baloch:
Mosque, church r not religious places. No one wants to take the revenge. We just want to pray where Lord Ram was born. And are muslims even allowed to pray at disputed sites, then why Muslims r holding on...such stupidity. In saudi arabia, they break mosques to make room for road. In west, empty chruches are used for other activies, like community gathering, musical concert and sometime strip clubs. But for hindus, temples r religious places . I guess, south asian muslims have not forgotten their hindu ancestory, may be that`s why in their mind, they think mosques r same as temples.
Please read ur constitution and ur institution rules, then tell me how u r providing equal rights.
@TruthPrevail: bro i thnk u nvr heard abt Justice Bhagvan Das he was the CJ of Pakistan n now he is the Chairman FPSC. which is equivalent to Indian Civil Services. furthermore in our law enforcing agencies there are many non muslims. i agree with u as no non-muslim can be the President or PM of Pakistan. but i mst say we should appreciate the positive steps taken by da both sides :) furthermore bro every person thinks that his religion is the best so v mst not undermine the faith of other either its mosque or mandar they r sacred places if someone did the wrong deed it cannot be corrected by the other wrong deed :) @ yuvaraj yes they enjoy the equal rights as the other citizens n the have a specific quota in every walk of life i personally know many ppl who are serving at the top ranks of different departments n they are either Hindus or belong to other religions.
@Ali,
The Gujarat riots were started when a Muslim mob torched a train full of Hindu pilgrims. After the initial 3 days of riots, many retaliatory riots were started by Muslims. 250 Hindus died in the Gujarat riots. Of course, being a Pakistani right winger means that you probably think that Muslims are always right and Hindus are inherently evil, so my post probably means nothing to you. But I am just laying out the truth.
@ TruthPrevail
Gujrat riots....
@Ali: lolll.. aren't you smart!!! Ignorance is bliss.
Pakistani love to give example of babri mosque demolition. Do you know in Saudi Arabia, they break mosques everyday to make room for roads. If u are a muslim, I hope u guys know mosques are not religious places, it is a community facilitation centre . Same with church. However, for a hindu, temple is a religious place. Once the god's statue is placed there, it becomes a home and can not be replaced. Please read history of babri mosque, it was built by demolishing a ram temple (place where ram was born), so what's wrong with giving that land to hindus...muslims can pray anywhere, infact hindu organizations were willing to give money to built mosque for muslims at any other place.
All Pakistani should read their constitution and compare it to India. Indian Institutions (civil, judiciary, government) provide equal rights to each citizen, irrespective of his/her religion. Is it same in Pakistan? No. In your country, do you even allow any non-muslim to become president/prime minister? No. There is great institutionalised discrimination against non-muslims in your country, just look at the recent article on medical school:http://tribune.com.pk/story/284353/equivalence-certificates-small-victory-for-hindu-student-as-court-rules-he-can-sit-medical-school-test/
We do not have such institutionalised discrimination in India.
@Ali Baloch: Its foolish to say tat hindus in pak enjoy the same rights as muslims in India. after pak independence hindus were killed in large numbers and now reduced to 2 percent where as muslims in india grew to 15 percent
@Bob Ka Baap: bro i mst say tht u shold consult da books on history... even Jasvant Singh wrote in his books that how many muslims were killed during da partition n their proportion was reduced dramatically
@Rajendra Kalkhande: Bro to make someone a president or prime minister z not da assurance tht the rights of miniorities are secured...till now da case of Babri mosque z pending...
@Rajput. Get your facts right. The ground zero mosque is NOT at ground zero!!!!! it is in fact 5 blocks away.
@Rajendra Kalkhande: We are not brain washed about india, We just read news.
We still remember Babari Mosque and Gujjrat Massacre of muslims. That is enough to know how miniorities are living in India.
@Bob Ka Baap: From where you are getting these statistics. Thank God you didnt claim that current area of Pakistan was 99% hindu before partition :)
@Falcon: "Just like we Muslims requested for protection of our rights for building the mosque on Grand Zero (New York), ... "
When you say "we" - are you an American ? The ground zero mosque is a victory monument. The mosque can be built elsewhere, not at ground zero.
I hope you can see the insensitivity of the demand. The twin towers were destroyed by people claiming they did the act for Islam.
Stingy gesture by the court and the archeology department. After keeping it confiscated for sixty years,the least the archeology dept can do it is renovate it properly and quickly, using its its own funds, so that it can be preserved and be actually used by the dwindling hindu community of the area.
I can certainly understand how happy Hindus in KP will feel. Just like we Muslims requested for protection of our rights for building the mosque on Grand Zero (New York), we should also help other religious groups practice their faith and provide them all the facilities they need. No human being should be denied basic religious rights regardless of where in the world it be. I feel proud of Pakistan Judiciary's action.
..........saying it is ‘protected’ property and changes cannot be made to it.
What does that tell ya?
@Ali: In 1947, the area that constitutes West Pakistan had 35% population of Hindus and Sikhs..now that number is 1%. In 1947, the area that constitutes India now had a Muslim population of 12%..now that number is 14%...
Enuff said....
good ,but i hate ppl here who are giving negative comments,do forget we are muslims and pakistan we must learn tolerance !
Happy Diwali!
But why it was closed? I did not get any clue from this news report :(
happy diwali :)
@ Ali. Minorities in India have equal political, social, economic and religious rights.India has a Sikh Prime Minister and had many Muslim presidents. Even today the vice president of India is a Muslim. Bollywood is full of Muslims. Muslim worship places are well maintained. A christian is the chief of Indian air force. Even our defense minister is a christian. In Pakistan you guys are brain washed about minorities in India. Pakistan has to go a long way when it comess to the rights of minorities.
@ Ali
We are no less then India. According to Pakistani law, only a muslim can becomes president of Pakistan, while India has had a muslim president and now they have a sikh president. so stop behaving like minorities rights in Pakistan is better than in India...we still have a long way to go for providing rights to minorities, atheist, liberals/seculars etc.. and no, before u think i am from india, i am a pakistani too!
BRAVO! Great News. Let them renovate it! Atleast this way some will be taking care of our heritage!
A new ray of hope for all Pakistanis.... this decision proved that our courts are not biased like the neighboring country.
@jp:
When mentioning about Pakistan. also do state the status of Mosques in East Punjab for last 64 years.
Minorities in Pakistan are given equal rights. Double voting rights. Assurance that they will have representation in National, and Provincial Assemblies and Senate. Do you find that assurance in India? No, in india minorities do not enjoy that kind of rights.
Numbers of minorities on exceed than their proportion when it comes to: victims in roits, prisoners in jails, below poverty line, illiterate. If any one has doubt, do study Indian news papers first.
Happy Diwali !
(From: Peshawar High Court)
Many congratulations to the Hindu community of Peshawar. I wish them peace, happiness and hope they will be able to restore this building to a condition worthy of a house of God.
October 30 Really? Check your facts ET! I'd highly recommend strengthening the proof-reading staff.
So does this means minorities in Pakistan enjoy equal rights Or the Courts are independent in making decisions ?
I cant believe such a court ruling in Pakistan......