Pakistani religious scholars played down the controversy, suggesting that Constitution of Pakistan and Sharia allowed the temple to be built
The Pakistan Ulema Council supported the federal government’s decision to build a Hindu temple in the capital. The land was recently allotted for the construction of the temple recently and some of the citizens objected to the construction of the Mandir.
Council of Islamic Ideology’s (CII) Maulana Tahir Ashrafi played down the controversy and said that the council will be meeting soon to discuss the matter.
“We denounce the controversy over the temple construction,” he told media in Islamabad. “The Ulema Council will call a meeting and present its point of view to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII),” he added.
Ashrafi also said that the shariah and the constitution of Pakistan both allow for the construction of non-Muslims places of worship.
“To have their own place of worship and offer a life as per their faith and tradition is the right given to all non-Muslims in the Constitution as well as shariah,” he said.
Ashrafi also pointed out that this is not the first construction of its kind and there are a lot of other places of worship built in Pakistan including the recently opened Kartarpur corridor which especially facilitates that Sikh community. He asked that why the same people did not object to that project.
“Dozens of worship places have been established in the country for religious minorities and recently the government constructed the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh pilgrims,” he said. “Did anybody observe any threat to Islam? No.”
The approval for the land allotment for the Mandir was given in 2017 by the previous government. The land allotment was recently made. After the announcement, a number of legal complaints were filed, some of which have been dismissed since.