Pakistan Supreme Court seeks report on denial of access to Hindu temple

Pakistan's Supreme Court has sought a report from the government on its efforts to ensure access to the minority Hindu community to a century-old temple in Sindh province.

The Karachi bench of the apex court was hearing applications against the alleged denial of access to the members of the minority community to the temple – Amrapur Asthan of Prem Prakash Panth - in Tando Adam.

Applicant Reejho Mal had sent an application alleging that Hindus are being denied entry to the temple by the management of a government school that has been set up on the premises. The bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, observed that the Constitution guarantees the rights of religious minorities in the country. "And the Supreme Court will ensure that these rights are [fully] enforced," the judge said.

The bench instructed additional advocate general Adnan Karim to look into the matter.

Meanwhile, the patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani requested the Supreme Court to sanction the Hindu Gymkhana building to be used exclusively for Hindus. Vankwani filed a concise statement informing that the Hindu community had built the Hindu Gymkhana in Karachi in 1926 for recreational purposes. He said that the building was illegally declared as evacuee property and taken over by several institutions.

Eventually, in 2007, it found its way into the hands of the National Academy of Performing Arts.