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Karachi : As many as 29 temples had been occupied in Thatta district, Humaira Alwani told the Sindh Assembly on Thursday.
“It’s a blatant violation of the Constitution,” she told The News.
“The temples that have been occupied include Dayal Mandir in Palangparo in Thatta district, Shiv Mandir in Barani Goth in Thatta, Ashram in Ward 3, also called “Khooni Talla” (bloody pool, because crocodiles use to live there), Police Chaweree, and Shiv Mandir in Cashiganpara,” she said.
Alwani said she visited the area after receiving complaints and some people became “furious” as to why she was taking interest in those temples.
She said on February 25, 2011, the culture minister, Sassui Palijo, herself admitted in the assembly that many temples had been occupied in Thatta district.
“This is a fact that the ancient temple in Nihaldarya in Thatta has been occupied by one police official named Yaqoob Shah and his family who have no legal documents,” Alwani said, quoting Palijo.
The department of culture directed the concerned officials to take necessary action against the illegal occupants, but it had not been vacated yet, Alwani said.
“Thatta has immense historical and heritage value,” Alwani said, adding it was sad that activities contrary to the Constitution were going on there. It may be pointed out that in his historic speech in the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1948, the Founder of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had made it clear that Pakistan would not be a theocratic state, and that the rights of the minorities would be protected.
Source: Pakistan Hindu Post