RAWALPINDI: Even though the Auqaf department has the requisite funds to secure major shrines in the district, it is finding it different to do so because the shrines’ lands have not been defined and the revenue department is not assisting with the demarcation of the land.

A month ago, the department sought the help of the assistant commissioners of Rawalpindi city and the cantonment area to identify the land so it could construct boundary walls around the shrines in question. However, the local administration and revenue department have not responded to its requests yet.

“The police’s Special Branch pointed out two main shrines – Shah Di Tallian on Murree Road near Committee Chowk and Darbar Pir Sufi Abdul Ghani in Gulistan Colony, a few yards from the Army House – for improved security measures,” a senior Auqaf department official told Dawn.

He said the department’s regional office acquired the funds necessary for these security arrangements, which included the construction of boundary walls and the installation of CCTV cameras.

However, construction on the boundary walls could not begin because the shrines’ boundaries are not defined.

Dept sought help from local administration, revenue dept but has not heard back

In order to avoid court cases and the removal of encroachments, the department sought the revenue department’s assistance in the demarcation of the shrines’ lands.

The official claimed illegal occupants of the Auqaf department’s land were trying to impede the land identification process so their encroachment remains hidden. He added that the boundary walls will be constructed once demarcation is carried out.

“We had a problem when the Auqaf department got possession of a shrine at Potha Sharif in Murree and the locals went to court to stop the department from constructing the boundary wall, so we want the revenue department’s help to avoid such cases,” the official said.

He said land identification would help the department put in place security arrangements in the prevailing security situation.

At present, the official said, local police have deployed two personnel around the shrines on Thursdays and Fridays, but this would not work without the installation of security equipment such as CCTV cameras.

The Auqaf department controls more than 32 shrines in Rawalpindi, but security arrangements cannot be set up in and around them without the demarcation of their lands.

The land belonging to the shrines is also shrinking because of encroachments by the shrines’ custodians and people attached to the shrines. The official said the department is looking to end this practice, but without the revenue department’s help it would not be able to.

Auqaf department district manager Zahid Iqbal confirmed that the local administration and revenue department’s help has been sought to identify land belonging to the shrines.

“The department released funding for the shrines identified by the Special Branch and asked the local administration for help for further funding,” he said.

Mr Iqbal said the department got possession of the Sufi Abdul Ghani shrine in Gulistan Colony with a record for nine kanals and 12 masla, but the department requires the revenue department to demarcate the land because the size of the land on the ground is smaller than the record.

He said the shrine on Murree Road also requires land identification for the construction of the boundary wall, adding that security arrangements would be made as soon as the demarcation of land is carried out.

He added that Pakistan Railways is running the Baba Massom shrine on Railway Road, and the Auqaf department has written to the railways authorities to return possession of the shrine’s land as well as the income generated from the shrine in the last seven to eight years.

Assistant commissioner city Maleeha Jamal and assistant commissioner cantonment Mahreen Fahim Abbasi were not available for comment. A senior local administration official told Dawn the Auqaf department’s request had been received but a final decision in the matter would be made in a week or two, after the provincial government’s approval.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2017