NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demonstrated Saturday in Delhi’s Sriniwaspuri over what it alleged was a BJP-led federal government intended to destroy a temple.
It published a supposed notification from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs that said, “It has been observed that you have occupied the aforementioned religious edifice on the project site of Sriniwaspuri.”
Atishi said, “It is a well-established fact that you have unlawfully occupied/encroached onto Government of India/L&DO land.”
Additionally, as per the ruling of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India dated 29.09.2009, no illegal building will be carried out or authorized in the name of a temple, church, mosque, gurdwara, etc. on public streets, public parks, or other public areas, etc. The Ministry was unavailable for comment. In Sriniwaspuri, the temple is known as Neelkanth Mahadev Mandir.
“It is therefore advised that as the land-owning agency of the Government of India, it is required to remove the whole premises including unlawful religious structures within seven days of the date of this notice, failing which the same will be forcibly evicted and demolished with the assistance of local police,” reads the April 13 notice.
Atishi, an AAP MLA who spearheaded the demonstration on Saturday, stated: “The BJP is bulldozing not just the temple but also the faith of crores of people only to pilfer money from the temple’s gullak. The AAP has taken its decision: we will not allow the BJP to demolish the temple; we are standing here with the people of Sriniwaspuri and will fight back. Regardless of the amount of force used by the BJP, the AAP would not allow bulldozers to drive over a single temple in Delhi.”
Harish Khurana, the BJP’s spokesperson, said that it was a “rumor.” “There is nothing else quite like this… At the national level, the BJP administration would not demolish any temples. These are unsubstantiated rumors. They are displaying a fictitious notification; nobody knows whence it originated.
The people of Delhi are enraged at the Kejriwal government for failing to speak out against stone pelting at the Hanuman Mandir. These falsehoods are being spread in order to deflect attention away from these important concerns,” he explained.
The outburst came days after the North MCD launched an anti-encroachment campaign in riot-hit Jahangirpuri, which resulted in the demolition of many structures, including the outside gate of a mosque.
Edited By: Khushi Thakur
Published By: Bhavya Dedhia
