By: ChandrashekarBhat
By Chandrashekar Bhat
PAKISTAN’S Supreme Court has ordered the Karachi administration to stop the demolition of a Hindu dharamshala and leasing out the heritage property located in the heart of the city.
A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, issued the order on Friday (12) while hearing a case regarding the implementation of a 2014 judgment on minorities’ rights.
During the hearing, Ramesh Kumar – a co-opted member of a one-man commission on minorities – stated that the property at Saddar Town-I in Karachi – measuring about 716 square yards was a dharamshala, The Express Tribune reported.
He said the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) leased out the property to a private person, who was demolishing the dharamshala to construct a commercial plaza.
Kumar, who placed photographs of the building before the court, said the ETPB chairman contended that the Sindh high court allowed the ETPB to lease the place out, have it demolished and raise a new building there.
The supreme court bench, however, said such an order of the high court was not before it.
“The very photograph apparently shows that the building is of dharamshala constructed in the year 1932, which can be read from the marble slab affixed on the building and must be a protected heritage building,” the apex court said.
It issued a notice to Sindh’s secretary of heritage, asking him to file a report on the building.
No demolition activity of the building shall be conducted by anyone, and the building and the land shall be taken over by the commissioner of Karachi, who shall manage the same and not allow any person to enter it, the court said.
The order noted that the one-man commission has also filed an application with the request that it may be allocated more funds as earlier funds of Rs 7 million (£31823) allocated to it have already been spent and some liabilities have also accrued.
The apex court issued a notice to the ministry of religious affair and the attorney general for Pakistan on the application, the report said.
The ETPB is a key government department that administers evacuee properties, including educational, charitable or religious trusts left behind by Hindus and Sikhs who migrated to India after the partition.
