Source

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN, November 13, 2003: This BBC report is on the same situation as our November 11 report, but with additional details: The report by BBC correspondent Haroon Rashid reads, in part, “A 150-year-old Hindu temple in the Pakistani city of Peshawar has become the focus of a property dispute involving the army. This is the most important temple for the Hindus in Peshawar. The Balmiki temple is located in the Kalibari area of the city where a small Hindu community is concentrated. But the Kalibari area is part of the city’s military cantonment and is run by the army. The army is saying that the people who run the temple, as well as the owners of some 70 houses in the neighborhood, must leave. They have been served with eviction notices. The army wants to pull down the existing buildings and replace them with a high-rise shopping complex. The army says that Kalibari is the property of the local cantonment board, and it has the right to vacate it. It has been trying to clear the area for the past 15 years, and has met stiff resistance from the Hindu residents. The presence of the Balmiki temple, which is the hub of the Hindu community in this crowded neighborhood, has become a sensitive issue. The head priest, Ramlal, who has looked after the temple for the last 35 years, says the property in Kalibari belongs to the minorities. ‘In 1861, four Hindu merchants were the owners of half of the cantonment area. They built the houses in the Kalibari area to house their employees. They have been living here since then,’ Ramlal told BBC News Online.”

Post Views: 613