Temple in Islamabad- 'Mandir Banayenge' spins to 'Mandir Nahi Banayenge'?

Morality is doing what is right, no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, no matter what is right! Knowing this, it's clear what Pakistanis have in their wits for Hindu people in their country. Hindus are the largest minority in Pakistan, but often face discrimination. In Amnesty’s 2019 report on Pakistan, it said minorities continued to be persecuted under strict and arbitrarily enforced blasphemy laws and faced attacks from powerful religious hardliners. What makes us reiterate this is halting the construction of a Shri Krishna Mandir by authorities in Islamabad’s H-9 sector last week. This is anything but yet another reminder of how the space for religious freedom is shrinking in Pakistan.

 

The temple would have been the first new place of worship for the 3,000 Hindus residing in the capital. But not anymore. Marred with fatwas, religious bigotry, threats and political point scoring, the construction of the temple has now run into disputes. Plans for the Shri Krishna temple on a 1,860 sq metre (20,000 sq ft) site in Islamabad include a Hindu crematorium and a community hall for the city’s minority Hindu residents and visitors. For years the thousands of Hindus in Islamabad had been pushing for a proper place to worship and to cremate their dead, rather than having to travel sometimes hundreds of miles to perform last rites. The plans were granted approval by the central government, and last week Imran Khan ordered the release of Rs 100 million to help fund the project.

 

 

After becoming prime minister in 2018, Khan pledged to protect the religious freedom of Pakistan’s 8 million Hindus. However, the temple has proved a highly sensitive issue in the Islamic nation. The Pakistan Muslim League - Quaid, a political party in Khan’s ruling coalition, requested that the project be scrapped, claiming it was 'against the spirit of Islam'. How a temple can shake the foundations of a republic that promises equal rights to the minorities is the sad reality of Pakistan!

 

Further, many had a problem with the temple being built on taxpayers’ money but it didn’t occur to anyone that Hindus as Pakistani citizens, too, pay their taxes. So it remains to wonder, why can’t the government spare money on their place of worship? The Kartarpur Gurdawara’s renovation was made possible with the government money. Since that was in ‘national interest’, none of these religious and political charlatans dared squeak on it. Pakistan’s bias towards the minorities hasn’t surfaced overnight. Decades of othering the religious minorities as part of making a national identity lies at the root of this inherent bias. The glorification in the history textbooks of temple vandelisers like Mahmud Ghaznavi and at the same time hoping to show the world how Pakistan is a pluralistic society sounds delusional. You cannot preach one thing and practice another, right?

 

Pakistanhas to face some fundamental questions here- What is Pakistan’s relationship with its minority citizens? What is the social contract between Pakistani Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and the State? If the Constitution gives rights as equal citizens and the freedom to practice religion, then why does the State let the pressure groups treat minorities as third-rate citizens? Is this all about the 'Mandir vahi Banega' movement that put India higher on the scale of winning? The Imran Khan administration is the loudest when it comes to raising voice against persecution of Muslim minorities anywhere in the world, especially in India.

 

Its time for Pakistan to show full bloom in this case, especially when the State's character is being contonuously judged in say tackling corona virus, terrorism, poverty. If PM Khan’s idea of giving a lesson to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on treatment of religious minorities involves making a U-turn on every tough decision and appeasing the clergy, then how is Naya Pakistan any different from the old one?