KARACHI, Oct 31: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday ordered that access to Shri Laxmi Narayan Mandir, a Hindu temple believed to have been constructed about 200 years ago at the Native Jetty bridge, should not be blocked or hindered so that pilgrims of the minority community might carry out their religious rites according to their faith.

A division bench headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar was seized with the petition of Kailash Wishram, a resident of residential quarters on the temple premises, against a construction near the temple that he said blocked pilgrims’ access from the temple to the sea.

He cited the secretary of the ports and shipping ministry, the chairman of the Karachi Port Trust, the SHO of the Jackson police station and a private company that ran a food court under the Jinnah bridge as respondents.

The petitioner represented by Advocate Zain A. Jatoi submitted that he was a practising Hindu of a caste that was not given an equal status by other members of the Hindu community.

He submitted in the petition that the Narayan Mandir was constructed much before the partition of the subcontinent and for a long time Hindus performed their religious rituals at the temple, where access to the sea water was one of the essentials to perform worship.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the private company, an endeavour in collaboration with the KPT, had started some construction work blocking the access to the sea from the temple.

He said that the construction would threaten their place of worship and so the rights of the minority community at large.

According to the Pakistan Hindu Council, the temple was constructed about 200 years ago and many religious ceremonies and festivals are observed here.

The court had earlier ordered that the temple, its staircase, the boundary wall and corridors originally constructed might not be demolished.

On Wednesday the court heard the arguments of the counsel for the petitioner and the Hindu Panchayat.

The bench by the consent of the counsel of the petitioner and the Hindu Panchayat ordered that all the parties were in agreement that temple should be retained as a temple only and all constructions, additions or alteration therein should be in consonance with the agreement.

The court observed that all construction, additions or alteration shall be such that no obstacle, hindrance or difficulty was caused to pilgrims so that the religious rites according to the Hindu faith might be carried out in the temple and its adjoining property.

The court also observed that there shall be no activity other than pooja (worship and religious rites) was carried out within the premises of the temple.

The court also observed that the respondent Hindu Panchayat had undertaken to carry out ongoing construction, repairs and renovation work and ordered that any amount for such purposes was to be arranged by the respondents in future.