The ETPB is governed by the Board constituted by the Federal Government.The board has 6 official and 18 non-official members.Presently, of the six official members of ETPB are Muslims and of the out of the 18 non-official members, only eight are from the minority Hindu and Sikh communities.
Background
Evacuee Trust Property Board was established in 1960 to look after the temples and land left over by the Sikh and Hindus who migrated to India during partition in 1947-48. The board functions under the Act No.XIII of 1975. The board was started as a result of Nehru-Liaqat Pact in 1950) and Pant Mirza Agreement in 1955) to guarantee the rights of the minority Hindus and Sikhs.
Properties
The board controls and manages 109404 acres of agricultural land and 46499 of built-up urban sub-units in accordance with two schemes namely, “Scheme for the Lease of Evacuee Trust Agricultural Land, 1975” and “Schemes for the Management and Disposal of Urban Evacuee Trust Properties, 1977. (Evacuee Trust Properties essentially are the properties attached to charitable, religious or educational trust or institutions.
Healthcare
The board runs the Janki Devi Jamiat Singh hospital and seven health centers.
In December 2017, the Chief Justice of PakistanMian Saqib Nisar during the hearing of a case on Katas Raj Temple in Chakwal expressed displeasure at the absence or displacing of idols from the temples, demanding to know why there were no statues in the temples of Shiri Ram and Hanuman. The bench was told that Asif Hashmi, a former chairman of Evacuee Trust Property Board, earned millions of rupees from corruption and then ran away . The current Chairman of the board, Mr. Saddique, also highlighted his "fight against corruption" in his message on the official website of the Board.
Criticism
No minority representation
The ETP board is often criticised for not having enough Hindu and Sikhs members on the board. During the signing of Liaqat-Nehru pact, both Pakistan and India agreed to appoint Muslim head in India and Hindu head in Pakistan to look after evacuee property. However, since independence, the government never appoint Hindu citizen as the Chairman of ETPB..Presently, of the six official members of ETPB all are Muslims and of the out of the 18 non-official members, only eight are from the minority Hindu and Sikh communities.In 2018, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Hindu member of the national assembly presented the Evacuee Trust Properties Bill 2018 which says that only a Hindu/Sikh should be appointed as the chairperson of the Evacuee Trust Property Board .But the bill was rejected by the assembly’s standing committee on religious affairs in 2019.
Leasing Hindu Temples
ETPB is criticised for leasing Sacred Hindu temples to land grabbers. The ETPB rented out the historic Kali Bari Hindu Temple to a Muslim party in Dera Ismail Khan. This historic temple is being converted and used as Taj Mehal Hotel. The Frontier Constabulary officials, with the help of the ETPB, occupied the Shamshan Ghaat in Dera Ismail Khan and the Hindu community is unable to cremate their dead because of the unavailability of Shamshan Ghaat and is forced to bury them in a graveyard shared my members of other faiths.
