Amnesty International tells Pakistan to ‘reverse’ decision to halt construction of temple

The Amnesty International has criticised the government of Pakistan and urged it to review its decision to halt a temple in Islamabad, on Tuesday.

A tweet by the international body said that the act to halt construction of the temple in the federal capital was an “unconscionable act of bigotry”, saying that to practice religion was everyone’s inalienable right guaranteed by the constitution.

Everyone has a right to freedom of religion or belief, a right that is guaranteed in Pakistan’s constitution and its international obligations. Halting the construction of a Hindu temple in Islamabad is an unconscionable act of bigotry that must be reversed immediately.

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) July 7, 2020

the government last week decided to consult the Council of the Islamic Ideology (CII) on the sensitive issue as the construction work at the site of Hindu temple in Sector H-9/2 has also been stopped for want of a building plan.

The government will seek guidance and consultation from the CII and also respect the opinion of religious circles and leaders in this connection, the spokesman for the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony had earlier said.

The plot measuring 3.89 kanals was allotted by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on December 21, 2017, following the CDA board’s decision taken at its meeting on December 9, 2016.

Earlier reports of government land and funds being allocated for the construction of the temple had been circulating on social media. The Ministry of Religious Affairs had made it clear that it assists religious minorities in repairing and renovating existing places of worship, not building new ones.

Leading cleric Mufti Taqi Usmani and chairman of the government’s Central Route Hilal Committee Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman have also opposed the construction of the temple at the government’s expense.

The foundation stone of the temple was laid recently in Sector H-9 of Islamabad, the land of which was allotted during the previous regime.