NEW DELHI: The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday alleged that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had razed Sant Ravidas Temple in Tughlaqabad area to the ground, hurting the sentiments of the seer’s followers.
The authority comes under the Union government. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam claimed that the police took away an idol of the seer from inside the temple before it was razed.
The minister also urged the PM to raise the temple from its ruins.
However, the land-owning agency defended the move, saying the temple was razed in compliance with an order from the Supreme Court.
Earlier, in February, Modi laid the foundation stone for Guru Ravidas Birthplace Development Project at Guru Ravidas Janmasthan Temple during the seer’s birth anniversary celebrations in Varanasi.
Speaking at the event, the PM said, “Sant Ravidas strove for a society where there is no discrimination on the lines of class and caste. Had the country charted his course, it would have been rid of caste violence and atrocities by now.”
A widely-revered poet from the Bhakti Movement, Sant Ravidas stood for institutionalized caste hierarchy.
To this day, seer-poet commands a huge following among Dalits in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
“Scores of people, who count themselves as followers of Sant Ravidas, are hurt by the DDA’s move to dismantle the temple. Even the idol was taken away before the structure was demolished. I have written to Prime Minister Modi, urging him to consider the sentiments of his followers and have the temple restored,” the senior AAP leader and minister said.
AAP spokesperson and lawmaker Saurabh Bhardwaj also questioned the DDA’s move saying while his government has been “trying to resolve the matter through legal arbitration, the DDA had gone against the temple. They hold so much land. Why couldn’t they spare some for the temple? Where are the BJP leaders now?”
The DDA issued a clarification saying the ‘suit’ on which the Supreme Court pronounced its order was filed by Guru Ravi Das Jayanti Samaroh Samiti and not by the authority. They said in compliance with the order, “the structure was dismantled without any resistance or use of force, in the presence of Samiti members”.
In a letter to the PM, Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam claimed that the police took away an idol of the seer from inside the temple before it was razed. The minister also urged the PM to raise the temple from its ruins