The pandit of the Shital Mata Temple claims the police did not allow him to register an FIR against the desecration of an idol at the temple and instead asked him to vacate the premises. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

KARACHI: A row over a small quarter near Gate No 5 of Karachi Zoological Gardens has recently surfaced between the garden's dispatch rider, Muhammad Anwar, and the pandit of Shital Mata Temple, Maharaj Hira Lal.



According to Lal, three men donning shalwar kameez barged into his temple, situated in his small house at Quarter No C-7 in Gandhi Garden, Gate No 5, Nishtar Road, on Thursday, January 21, at 5:30pm, when the Durga Puja was underway. The attackers forcibly stopped the puja and, after a scuffle, goddess Bhavani Mata lost one of her left arms, he said.



After the incident, Lal went to the Garden police station to register an FIR, which, according to him, the duty officer refused to register. He alleged that the police were backing Anwar. "The head muharrar, instead of registering the FIR, asked me to vacate the temple," he said, adding that even when he got the court's order to file the FIR, the SHO refused to register it.



Meanwhile, Garden SHO Imdad Khawaja did not respond to repeated calls for his version.



Old temple



Situated inside a small room within the narrow streets just outside the zoological gardens, the Shital Mata temple is around 75 years old, said Lal. Deity Bhavani Mata, with a broken arm, is placed on one side, while Mata Sitla and Mata Santoshi are sitting beside her. Five black earthen lamps placed before Bhavani Mata are lit.



Lal said that until Bhavani Mata comes in any of the family members' dream, her hand could not be repaired. "Else I would have to arrange a puja at a very large scale to please Bhavani Mata," he said, adding that desecrating the Mata was something very big in their religion.



Pointing towards his grandfather Mir Khan's picture hanging on the wall, he said that he inaugurated this temple. "This small room is 75 years old and, at that time, my family used to live peacefully here with other Muslims around," he said. After the death of Khan, Lal's father, who was a gardener at Frere Hall, became the pandit of the temple. He said that after the death of his father, he became the pandit. Admitting that the family never registered the temple, he said that they never had enough money to get it registered.



Allotment history



Lal's father, Mohan, was given the quarter 75 year ago by the authorities of the time, said Lal, adding that he has no document of the allotment.



Sifting through the old allotment documents, he said that after the death of his father, the quarter was allotted to his mother, Champa, who was a sweeper in Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's (KMC) education department. After the death of Champa, the quarter was allotted to Lals's aunt, Kamla, who was also a sweeper in the same department.



The allotment document, a copy of which is also available with The Express Tribune, says that the allotment of the quarter is purely temporary and the competent authority has full powers to cancel, change or amend the allotment order.



After the death of Kamla, the quarter was allotted to Parboo, who is Kamla's son.



KMC's version



The security incharge of Karachi Zoological Gardens, Suleman Sajjad, said that the quarters were outside the premises of the zoo, which lies in the jurisdiction of KMC's estate and accommodation department. He said that the quarters were initially handed over to the zoo employees and, later, they were allotted to the employees of other KMC departments. After the death of Lal's father, the quarter was never transferred to any of his family members.



When shown the allotment document that shows Lal's cousin, Parboo, has been allotted the quarter, he said that Parboo was not a KMC employee, hence could not be allotted the quarter. According to Anwar, he has also got the allotment papers, which state that he is the owner of the quarters now. When asked if he attacked Lal's temple, he readily asked why he would do something so stupid.



Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2016.