ISLAMABAD: Resident of Hokran village in Jhang district praised the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) on Tuesday for responding to their pleas and initiating restoration work on a dilapidated mosque in their town that is more than hundred years old.
Speaking to Arab News via phone, Zafar Iqbal, who lives in the town, said that his fellow villagers were “delighted and thankful to Turkey for rebuilding their place of worship.”
Iqbal explained that Hokran’s local population had “sought TRC’s support about two or three years ago and requested its management to help fund the restoration of the mosque.”
Built in 1901, the condition of the mosque had declined, making people fear it could collapse and threaten the lives of the worshippers inside.
Endorsing Iqbal’s account, the head of TRC Pakistan Delegation, Ibrahim Carlos, told Arab News: “We received a request from the local community that described the condition of the mosque and requested us to build a new one” since the funds raised by them were insufficient for construction purposes.
Carlos said Turkey “tries not to turn down any requests from its Pakistani brothers or sisters to support any kind of project or program” in which the community has made effort to gather resources to meet their goal.
“They had collected nearly 10 percent of the amount and TRC will fund the remaining 90 percent,” the delegation head of TRC said, though he declined to disclose the total construction cost.
Carlos said that TRC expected to complete the construction “within eight months.” Once finished, he added, the building would accommodate up to 700 worshippers.
According to the residents of the town, the mosque may be old but it has little historic significance.
On Monday, officials of the Turk humanitarian organization held a groundbreaking ceremony to restore the 118-year-old Hazrat Ibrahim Mosque in the village and distributed food among the underprivileged segment of the community.
The Turkish Red Crescent also gifted toys and stationery to over 100 schoolchildren.
Addressing the locals, the organization’s general secretary, Huseyin Can, said it was a great honor to restore a mosque in a brotherly Muslim country, adding that his country remembered “the friendship of Muslims of Subcontinent” and their support during the Turkish War of Independence between 1919 and 1923.
He added that Turkey had always assisted Pakistan in difficult times of natural disasters.
Jhang is a district in central Punjab province situated on the east bank of river Chenab. Interestingly, the area was also ruled by Turks. Modern-day Pakistani counties of Bhera, Khushab, and Chiniot, which are now part of Jhang, stayed long under the rule of Timur Beg and his descendants ever since he invaded India in 1390, according to Pakistan government website.