The Hanuman temple in Raipur. The Hanuman temple in Raipur.

NEARLY a month after the Supreme Court directed that it be demolished, 34 BJP MLAs have extended their support to protecting a Hanuman temple in Raipur city, which was built on encroached land by a trust owned by Chhattisgarh Speaker Gauri Shankar Agarwal.

The apex court’s directions issued on May 15 stem from a state government affidavit in which it conceded that the allotment of land to the Chagan Lal Govind Ram Trust was illegal, and that orders were issued to the trust to remove the structure by the tehsildar in 2014, after which the land was taken over by the state.

Despite these directions, however, 34 of the BJP’s 49 MLAs have written to Chief Minister Raman Singh asking him to protect the temple, as it is part of the “religious sentiment” of people, even as several groups have held demonstrations in Raipur to preserve it. Those in the Mandir Bachao Samiti said that they are discussing a “revision petition” in Supreme Court.

Devji Patel, BJP MLA from Dharseeva, said he was a signatory to the letter sent to the Chief Minister, but added that it should not be construed as the BJP being against the Supreme Court. “Everyone has to respect the Supreme Court and all of us do. We are only requesting the court to consider what we are saying. The ‘pran pratishtha’ (where the deity is considered to have entered the temple) has already taken place, and it shouldn’t be broken down. If the construction had to be stopped, it should have been done while it was happening,” Patel said.

In 2014, The Indian Express had reported on how the issue of Agarwal allegedly illegally occupying the land, and building a temple, 19 shops, a satsang bhawan and a park had rocked the Vidhan Sabha, with the Opposition Congress asking for a no-confidence motion against the Speaker.

The Congress has insisted that “they never asked for the temple to be demolished” and blamed the government for the “mess”. Senior BJP leaders said that while they “respect the Supreme Court”, the “temple is connected to the faith of the people” and that they hoped a “solution would be found”.

Rakesh Choubey of Hamar Sangwari, the NGO that filed the petition in Supreme Court, said the land on which the temple and other facilities stand was originally a “mela ground”. “Now that the Supreme Court has ordered a demolition in our case, based on the government’s own affidavit, the BJP MLAs have sent this letter, and demonstrations are being allowed in the city, whipping up religious fervour. This is an absolute violation of the spirit of the Supreme Court’s order,” said Choubey.

Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, senior Congress leader, said that while “the Congress has never asked for a demolition of any temple”, the present situation is entirely the making of the BJP.

Pointing out that the government affidavit has admitted that the land allotment was illegal, Trivedi said, “Despite the temple being on illegal land, the Chief Minister was part of the ceremony where the deity is considered to have entered the temple. And now that they have admitted these lapses to the court, they are doing these histrionics.”

The temple is located on Mahadev Ghat, on the banks of the river Kharun, on one edge of the city of Raipur adjoining the neighbouring district. Outside the white marble temple, surrounded by lawns, banners have now come up, asking for support to protect the temple.

Ritesh Mohre, of the Mandir Bachao Samiti, said, “This temple has become part of the religious identity of the people here, and all we want is that it is not broken down. We have divided ourselves into small organisations and are undertaking signature campaigns across the city, and even in other districts. We are considering a revision petition, and have received the support of 34 BJP MLAs. Several Congress people are also supporting us.”

Rajesh Kumar Toppo, director, Directorate of Public Relations, said, “The state government will respect the directions of the Supreme Court.”

Official sources told The Indian Express that while they would wait and see if a revision petition was entertained by the court, there “is a precedent for demolition of illegal religious structures in Raipur” and that the “wishes of the court would have to be fulfilled”.

Senior police officials, however, said that they have had no intimation of any plans to immediately demolish the structure, and that “concrete plans would be made if the need arises”.

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