Speaker of Pakistan's Punjab assembly speaks against building Hindu temple, calls it against spirit of Islam

Pervaiz Elahi, the speaker of Pakistan's Punjab assembly has said that Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and the construction of a temple on its soil is against the very spirit of Islam. 

Elahi is one of Imran Khan's strongest allies and he is against the construction of a temple and a crematorium in Islamabad.

He just doesn't want new temples. His views may be archaic. But Elahi is not the only one who wants his country to live up to its values. He is speaking for many in Pakistan.

 Lawyers are opposing the temple's construction. Just two days back, an advocate filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court.

The purpose was the same, halt the construction of the new temple. The reasons were the same. Instead of constructing a new temple --- why not renovate the old ones?

Then there are clerics against the temple's construction. Mufti Ziauddin, a top cleric in Pakistan has even issued a fatwa which is a ruling under the Islamic law. The fatwa declares the temple's construction illegal because according to the cleric, building new places of worship is not permitted in Islamic nations.

Is there any such rule?  The United Arab Emirates, an Islamic kingdom had allotted land for building a temple. But in Pakistan, constructing new temples is 'unislamic'.

Forcefully converting minorities meanwhile is permitted.

The hypocrisy is by no means limited to matters of religion. It is on display -- every time Pakistan cries foul over terror.

First, the Pakistani prime minister called Osama bin Laden, a martyr. Then, he tried blaming India for the attack on the Karachi Stock Exchange last week. Yesterday, this hypocrisy was called out at the UNSC. Pakistan's all-weather ally, China, drafted a statement condemning the attack.

It was placed under a silent procedure --- under which if no member state raises any objections -- the draft within a specified time is considered adopted.

But the statement was stalled twice from being adopted. Germany was the first country to break the silence procedure. It delayed the issuance of the press statement saying it needed to "consult the capital".

Then it was America which broke the silence, further delaying the statement from being issued. Observers say the delay was to send a message to Pakistan.

A message that it cannot call the most dreaded face of terrorism a martyr on one hand and on the other hand expect condemnation over an attack it is blaming India for. The statement was released only after the deadline had passed. It used a standard template for condemning all terror attacks.

Islamabad's attempt to blame India failed miserably. Because India never had anything do with the attack. It was the Balochistan Liberation Army which carried out the attack.

What was the purpose? To send a warning to Pakistan and China to quit Balochistan.

Allah Nazar Baloch, a prominent pro-independence Baloch leader has said, "China has made a long-term plan to make Balochistan an undeclared colony to dominate the world."

"Pakistan has cheaply mortgaged Baloch lands to China. Baloch is the only ones fighting the modern imperialist monster. The attack on the base of Chinese moneylenders in Karachi is in continuation to retrieve our strategic assets."