No temple in Kazakhstan demolished: Envoy

New Delhi, Feb 13: Kazakhstan today described as ''absolutely false'' media reports that any temple was demolished in that country, saying the actions taken by Kazakh authorities were against private illegal constructions of Kazakh citizens who happened to be ISKCON members.

''There is no Hindu temple in Kazakhstan that was demolished. The whole dispute over a land issue has purely economic nature and not religious, as ISKCON tries to portray it...judicial authorities concerned have dealt with the issue and after due legal process it has reached its logical conclusion,'' Kazakhstan Ambassador to India, Kairat E Umarov said.

Newspaper reports here said earlier that Kazakh authorities had demolished some temples in that country.

The Ambassador said the individuals had been issued 29 notices during the past three years. They had forged documents to show their ownership of the land and had vested economic interest.

The Kazakh government had set up an Inter-Agency Commission to look into the matter which concluded that there was no temple in Kazakhstan which was demolished.

Giving facts, an embassy statement said ISKCON had been using 42.7 hectare farmland near Almaty Oblast since 1999 claiming that the public land was duly privatised and owned by it.

However, it came out that the land does not belong to ISKCON as a religious association and the right for land use was acquired by local of ISKCON members illegally in 1999 by changing arbitrarily its functional purpose in violation of the Farming Law of Kazakhstan, the statement added.

UNI