Pakistan is going to build first Hindu Temple in the capital city, Islamabad, for the promotion of interfaith harmony and religious tourism in the city, as tweeted by Parliamentary Secretary on Human Rights Lal Chand Malhi on Tuesday, June 23.
Malhi tweeted on the given date with the pictures of groundbreaking ceremony in which he wrote that government has dedicate four canals of land to build the temple. According to the Secretary, it would be the first temple in the city after centuries that would be built in H-9 sector.
The temple would have the section and area for cremation as well. Hindu Panchayat, an organization for welfare of Hindu community, organized the ceremony. It was attended by Mahesh Chaudhry, Preetam Das, Chaman Lal and Ashok Kumar.
Capital Development Authority assigned 20,000 square feet of land to Hindu Council firstly but the construction was delayed due to issues in administration. Religious Affairs Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri said that government will spend Rs 100 million on the construction of the temple.
It has been decided to name the temple “Shri Krishna Mandir”. The community has been demanding for the construction for the last few years because they have to go Rawalpindi to offer prayers at the religious place.
Lal said that there is need to construct temple as the population has increased significantly in the past few years.
Islamabad and its nearby areas have number of temples before the partition of India and Pakistan. They were either destroyed or became non-functional after 1947.
Dr Nadeem Omer Tarar, anthropologist and director of the Center for Culture and Development, appreciated the efforts of the ruling government and urged to reopen old temples near Rawal Lake. He urged to open the only operational Buddhist temple at Diplomatic Enclave for the community of Buddhism.
Current government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, decided to open 400 Hindu temples around the city and hand them to the Hindu community in 2019. The government opened Karatarpur corridor to facilitate pilgrims to visit Darbar Sahib Gurudwara without spending money on visa.
Government has taken an appreciative step. Unlike neighboring countries, Pakistan has been following the footsteps of the founder of the country.
