RAWALPINDI: The Auqaf department and Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) have locked horns over seven kanals of land which is being used as an Eidgah near the main spare parts market in Gawalmandi.

The Auqaf department wants to construct shops around Eidgah and the adjoining funeral ground to earn money while the RCB has leased the land to a local mosque committee to be used for Eid and funeral prayers.

According to the Auqaf department, locals did not want the Eidgah to be handed over to the mosque committee and that the land should be handed over to the department.

Punjab Auqaf Department Rawalpindi Zone Administrator Abdul Hameed told Dawn that the department had requested RCB authorities for the Eidgah’s land records, which the civic authority had refused twice.

He maintained that the Auqaf department wanted control of the land to avoid unrest among locals and for the better management of the Eidgah and funeral ground.

“The local committee collects donations from residents but the government department will do a better job of facilitating people,” he said.

Mr Hameed said the Auqaf department then wrote to the Military Lands and Cantonments regarding the issue, to which they did not get a response.

“We have sent reminders to the cantonment authorities for seven years, but the issue is still pending. We last wrote to the RCB a month ago,” he said.

When asked, RCB spokesperson Qaiser Mehmood said that the land record of the leased property were not shared with the Auqaf department as it was not their mandate to get records without purpose.

He said the property was allocated to be used for Eid and funeral prayers and that its purpose cannot be changed. The property was in possession of the civic authority before Pakistan came into being, he added.

“The land in Gawalmandi was being used for Eid and funeral prayers before partition and since then, the RCB has not tried to convert the area into a market, nor has it allowed anyone to use it for making profit,” Mr Mehmood said.

“The Auqaf department is managing mosques and shrines and does not have control over any eidgah or funeral prayer ground in the province, so its interest in this land raises questions,” he said.

A shopkeeper near the Eidgah, Mohammad Nisar, said he had never seen any disputes over use of the land and that there was no need to change the status of the ground.

The Evacuee Trust Department had wanted to construct a commercial plaza on the old Narayan Temple near the Eidgah some time back, but had abandoned the plans after protests from the Hindu community.

Published in Dawn October 22nd, 2016