Commuters go through 3-hr ordeal NH

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 10

Unhappy with the order of the Supreme Court to demolish a temple of Guru Ravidas in Delhi, members of the Ravidas community blocked the national highway near the Jalandhar bypass today. Commuters were hugely inconvenienced as the traffic had come to a standstill for about three hours.

Senior police officials, led by ADCP Gupreet Singh Sikand, reached the spot to defuse the situation, but the protesters refused to budge. 

Also read: Dalits protest demolition of Ravidas temple, choke roads

Naresh Basra of the Bahujan Samaj Party, who took part in the protest, said on a petition of the Delhi Development Authority, the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of the 15th century Guru Ravidas temple in Tughlakabad. This land was given to the Ravidas community by the then king Sikandar Lodhi. The Delhi Government eyes the temple land as property rates have soared in that place, he added.

“We will not tolerate the demolition of our guru’s temple and will intensify the protest in the entire country. Soon, a protest will be held in Delhi to seek the restoration of the temple. We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the sake of our guru,” said the protesters.

Meenakshi, a woman from Phagwara, said she boarded a bus from Phagwara but got stuck at the toll barrier due to the jam. She walked from Ladhowal to reach Jalandhar bypass with her five-year-old son. “If these protesters are fighting for their guru, I appreciate their emotions but it is wrong to cause inconvenience to hundreds of commuters. The vehicles had remained stuck in the jam for over three hours,” she added.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Sikand said after deliberations, the protesters agreed to remove the blockade.