Another example of the infringement of Hindu community’s rights by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) has come to the fore when the Supreme Court took notice of the illegal sale of properties belonging to the minority community in Karachi. Sacred artifacts and historical buildings belonging to the minorities are becoming victim to the avarice and neglect of the ETPB. Reportedly, there are a total of 1,831 temples and Gurdwaras under the ETPB’s jurisdiction, but only 31 of them are being used for worship these days. The remaining have either been closed down, encroached upon or given on lease to a third party. The latest example of criminal negligence of the ETPB is Dharamshala – a shelter for Hindu pilgrims – in Karachi. The piece of land, spread over 716 square yards, was allegedly handed over to a builder for the construction of a shopping centre. The Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) has been pursuing the case seeking action against the ETPB for its negligence. For a country created to protect and house the Muslim minority of greater pre-partition India, Pakistan has fallen woefully short in providing fundamental rights to its own minorities and protecting their historical sites.
The SC’s intervention in the matter is a very welcome step in restoring some faith our minorities may have once had in us. The latest direction by the top court to the ETPB chief to explain illegal sale of Hindu properties is a positive development. This is a small drop in the ocean of hate mongering, discrimination and negligence against the Hindu community in Pakistan. They do not know what it is like to freely profess and follow their religion and they do not even have very basic human rights. The interest shown by the SC in the rehabilitation and return of properties belonging to the minority community can only be welcomed. Now it is the government’s responsibility to act wisely and make efforts for the preservation of the historical sites belonging to the minority communities.
