Temple demolition: Stage set for Punjab bandh today

JALANDHAR: With a bandh call over the demolition of Guru Ravidas temple by Dalit organisations and Sant Samaj tomorrow getting support of the state government, it is likely to throw normal life out of gear. All commercial establishments and educational institutes are slated to remain closed tomorrow. Deputy Commissioner Varinder K Sharma has ordered the closure of all government, private and aided schools and colleges of the district so that the students are not inconvenienced.

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 12

With a bandh call over the demolition of Guru Ravidas temple by Dalit organisations and Sant Samaj tomorrow getting support of the state government, it is likely to throw normal life out of gear.

All commercial establishments and educational institutes are slated to remain closed tomorrow. Deputy Commissioner Varinder K Sharma has ordered the closure of all government, private and aided schools and colleges of the district so that the students are not inconvenienced.

Calling the action over the historical shrine a part of the RSS agenda, Cabinet ministers Charanjit Singh Channi and Aruna Chaudhary on Monday announced that the state government would extend full legal and financial support to the SC community for filing review petition against the order of the apex court to demolish Guru Ravidas temple in New Delhi.

The ministers along with Lok Sabha MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh and MLAs Raj Kumar Chabbewal and Sushil Kumar Rinku, who were part of a five-member committee constituted by the Punjab Chief Minister to meet the religious and political representatives of the community and formulate a comprehensive strategy to resolve the issue, held a meeting with representatives of the SC community here at the District Administrative Complex.

The ministers, while expressing pain and anguish over the demolition of the temple in New Delhi, said the Punjab Government, led by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, would support them. Both the ministers said if the community agreed, the state government was ready to bear the entire expenses for the legal battle to rebuild the temple.

The ministers said the state government was ready to contribute or fully bear the expenditure for the reconstruction of the temple at the same place. They said Chief Minister Capt Amarinder had talked to Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to seek re-allotment of the same site, which reportedly belongs to the Delhi Development Authority, to enable the community to reconstruct the temple along with the sarovar. They said the Chief Minister had also extended all legal and financial assistance to the community to take the matter forward and rebuild the demolished structure at the same place.

Condemning the incident, the ministers said the state government would support the struggle of the SC community to get back the land for the temple and get it reconstructed at the earliest. They asked the representatives to ensure that the struggle was peaceful.

Meanwhile, during the meeting, a unanimous resolution was passed to condemn this incident. The resolution pledged to wage a peaceful battle for regaining the land for the temple, thereby ensuring its reconstruction.

On the occasion, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma, Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and Senior Superintendent of Police Navjot Singh Mahal urged the representatives to exercise restraint and peace during the protest.

Those present on the occasion included MLAs Pargat Singh, Rajinder Beri, Chaudhary Surinder Singh and Avtar Singh Bawa Henry, Additional Deputy Commissioners Kulwant Singh and Jasbir Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police Gurmit Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police D Sudharvizhi, Sub-Divisional Magistrates Paramveer Singh and Sanjeev Sharma, Assistant Commissioner Shayari Malhotra, Deputy Superintendent of Police Sarabjit Singh Rai and Surinder Pal, Revenue Officer Manohar Lal and others.