SHC appoints civil judge to help settle tug-of-war over place of worship

He will inspect the site to verify claims made by Hindu community members.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has appointed a civil judge to inspect a century-old temple in Tando Adam and submit a report on his findings so that a dispute between Hindu community members and a welfare organisation can be settled.

The temple in question is located on Amrapur Asthan of Prem Prakash Panth, a place of worship spread over seven acres which also houses a Samadhi (final resting place) of Swami Teenu Ram Maharaj.

Reejho Mal, a member of the Hindu community, had taken the provincial chief secretary, culture secretary and the school’s administration to court for allegedly blocking access to the place of worship.

He claimed that the provincial government had allotted a portion of the temple’s land to the education department, which then established Dr Ziauddin Primary School there. Mal claimed that the school’s administration, particularly the headmaster, had been hostile towards Hindu pilgrims wishing to access the site and had prevented them from entering the temple in October last year. A hostile group was also desecrating the sacred structure, he claimed.

His lawyer, Shahad Sarki, said that the school’s administration had been violating rights guaranteed by the Constitution and pleaded the court to take action against it.



“Since this place bears historical and archaeological importance, it must also be declared as protected heritage under Section 6 of the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act 1994,” he added.

But a social welfare organisation also joined the proceedings, claiming that a temple did not exist at the site in the first place. Muhammad Azam Qureshi, the organisation’s representative, alleged that the school was built at a spot on which a guest house comprising between 40 and 50 rooms once stood. He had pleaded to the court to dismiss the Mal’s petition.

On Thursday, both the parties agreed that the court should order an inspection of the site through a judicial officer to ascertain facts about it and settle the mater.

With their consent, the bench, headed by Justice Maqbool Baqir, appointed Civil Judge Tando Adam as the commissioner to inspect whether the temple, mosque or a school exists on the land.

The judge has been ordered to submit a comprehensive report along with photos within one week.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2013.