ISLAMABAD: Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri on Wednesday said that the Pakistan Hindu Mandirs Management Committee would be responsible for the supervision and general management of Hindu temples across the country.

Chairing the first meeting of the committee, he also noted that the committee was the official forum to highlight and help resolve the problems faced by the members of Hindu community, instead of leaving this responsibility to NGOs and individuals.

Since most of the temples are under the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) and the funds for their repair works as well as general maintenance is provided by the Board, the “Pakistan Hindu Mandirs Management Committee” will act as a subordinate body of the ETPB.

The committee was established in November, after it was noted that issues related to the general management of temples, extending help to pilgrims and even exercising worships at some places needed to be resolved with the help of community members.

Says body to supervise, manage temples

The ETPB has already established a “Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee” in 1999 for maintenance of Sikh religious institutions and places of worships in Pakistan.

The minister for religious affairs said the government wanted to promote harmony among people of different cultures in the region.

“Some elements wanted to promote confrontation in Pakistan on the basis of religion, sect and ethnicity,” he said.

He said the new committee would act as a bridge between the Hindus and the state.

ETPB Chairman Dr Aamer Ahmed informed the committee members that there were two categories of temples in the country.

The category one temples are those situated in localities with sizeable Hindu population and are managed by the community themselves.

“The temples in Bhong, Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab fall in this category, while the other category includes temples which are managed by the ETPB, like the shrine and temple in Teri, Karak,” Dr Ahmed said.

The members of the committee including the officials of the ministry and the ETPB acknowledged that not much has been done in the past to include members of Hindu community in the affairs of their religious institutions.

It was also noted that the communication gaps between the state functionaries and the Hindu community was spreading misconceptions and disinformation by certain individuals and some NGOs.

While speaking at the meeting Krishna Sharma, belonging to Mithi, Sindh said that traditionally such committees are established in the country by governments either to fulfill the constitutional requirements or to adjust their supporters.

“However we will like to see this body as a platform for solving problems of Hindu community, and it was possible only with the help of state institutions,” Mr Sharma said.

The members of the committee including Dewan Chand Chawla, Ashok Kumar from Sindh, Ameet Kumar Shadani, Mohan Das and Niranjan Kumar, Virse Mal Dewani from Balochistan, Amarnath Randhawa, Lahore and Ms Megha Arora, from Punjab and Haroon Sarab Diyal from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the meeting.

The ex-officio members of the committee are ETPB chairman, Joint Secretary Ministry of Religious Affairs and the secretary to the committee will be the Additional Secretary (Shrines), ETPB.

The committee will also be responsible for facilitating to both local and foreign Hindu yatrees (pilgrims) and to make their journey and stay within Pakistan as comfortable as possible, apart from other necessary arrangements related to their reception and farewell on each religious occasion.

The meeting noted that the committee should promote religious tourism for the Hindu community spreading world over.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2021