Pakistani top religious council says will take weeks to rule on Hindu temple

A view of a complex in Saidpur Village, which houses a Hindu temple, Sikh gurdwara and a guest house for pilgrims, in Islamabad, Pakistan on July 6, 2020. [Arab News photo by Aamir Saeed]

• Last week, Capital Development Authority halted the ongoing construction of a new temple in Islamabad
• The government has asked the Council of Islamic Ideology to clarify if public funds can be used to build new places of worship for minorities

ISLAMABAD: The head of Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology, a body that advises the government on religious issues, has said it will take four to six weeks to decide whether public funds could be used to build a new Hindu temple in the Pakistani capital. 
Last week, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) halted the ongoing construction of a Hindu temple in Islamabad, which rights activists and members of the Hindu community say is out of pressure from rightwing politicians, media outlets and clerics. The boundary wall of the site was also subsequently torn down by a mob.
CDA told a court this week construction of the temple was halted because the Islamabad Hindu Panchayat had not adhered to the Authority’s rules, which require submitting a building plan and seeking CDA approval before starting construction.
“The government has asked the Council of Islamic Ideology if a new temple can be built using state funding,”CII chairman Dr. Qibla Ayaz told Arab News, adding that the council’s research department was looking into the issue and could take weeks to share its findings with the council’s apex body, which would then approve it and pass on recommendations to the government. 
“We are taking the matter quite seriously; we need to see and consult [Islamic references] so it may take us about four to six weeks to respond to the [government] query,” Ayaz added. 
Pakistan’s Religious Affairs Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri said on Wednesday the government had no objection to the construction of the temple itself but needed to check if public funds could be used for the purpose. He said the government would abide by CII’s guidance on the issue.
On Tuesday, the Islamabad High Court dismissed three petitions filed against the construction of the temple, saying construction could continue once proper CDA approval had been received. 
Pakistani Hindu and rights activist Kapil Dev called the court order “encouraging” for religious minorities in Pakistan.
Leading cleric Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani wrote on Twitter that minorities in Muslim countries had the right to retain their places of worship or build new ones: “However, the government is not allowed to use [public] money to construct such a place,” he said.
Minorities make up a small fraction of 220 million strong Muslim-majority Pakistan.