The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has canceled the allocation of a piece of land for constructing a Hindu temple in Islamabad.
According to a national daily, the civic body’s counsel, Javed Iqbal, told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday that the land allotment was canceled after the federal cabinet had barred the construction of new buildings in the capital’s green areas.
The CDA had previously allocated a piece of land in Sector H-9/2 for the construction of the temple, in addition to a community center and cremation, to facilitate the minority community. In this regard, the CDA Director Urban Planning had told the IHC bench last year that the process of plot allocation in H-9/2 began in 2016. He said,
The site was allocated to the Hindu community for the construction of a temple, community centre or a shamshan ghat [cremation site]. The plot was allotted after consultation with the Ministry of Religious Affairs, special branch and the Islamabad administration.
He further informed the bench, “an area of 3.89 kanals was allotted in 2017 and handed over to the Hindu panchayat [council] in 2018.”
Prior to the aforesaid cancelation, Hindu lawmakers and community leaders approached the Council of Islamic Ideology and concerned parties on the issue of constructing the temple in the federal capital in September 2020.
Although their request was accepted at that time, the authorities have now backed out as updated protocols and land regulations now prohibit the construction of new buildings in the capital’s green belt.
