BHOPAL: Former Madhya Pradesh minister and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh has written to his minister son Jaivardhan Singh to immediately stop implementation of previous BJP regime’s decision to build a slaughterhouse near a temple on Bhopal’s outskirts. The veteran politician is currently under attack from opposition BJP and right-wing Hindu groups over his recent “rapes inside temples” controversial remark,
On Saturday, the septuagenarian Congress leader wrote a letter to his MP urban development minister son Jaivardhan Singh, mentioning that the former BJP government’s decision to build a slaughterhouse near a temple on outskirts of Bhopal has hurt the feelings of lakhs of devotees.
In the letter, Singh has mentioned that many pilgrims visit the Kankali Temple during the Navratri. Not only is the temple is close to the Adampur Chhavni, the site of the slaughterhouse, but three more temples, including a Ram Temple and an ISCKON temple are located on the road leading to the Kankali Temple.
During the previous BJP regime, a decision was taken to shift the existing slaughterhouse from Subhash Nagar to Adampur Chhavni (close to the Kankali Temple), which was opposed by the Congress workers at that time. The protests by Congress workers had forced then BJP regime to abandon the idea of building the slaughterhouse in Adampur Chhavni.
But in 2017, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) mayor and the then Chief Minister, overlooking the concerns of pilgrims and local residents, had gone ahead with the proposal and cleared the detailed project report (DPR) for building the slaughterhouse at Adampur Chhavni.
“I’ve come to know that in pursuance of the previous BJP government’s decision, the BJP-ruled BMC has started the construction of the slaughterhouse, consequently hurting the sentiments of lakhs of devotees and pilgrims who will offer prayers at the Kankali Temple and other nearby temples during the coming Navratri. Lakhs of devotees are hurt by the BJP-ruled BMC to start construction of the slaughterhouse.”
In the letter to his minister’s son, Singh has requested to immediately stop the implementation of the decision of the previous BJP regime by the presently BJP-ruled BMC. Further, Singh requested in the letter to shift the slaughterhouse facility elsewhere.
The Congress politician’s letter to minister son assumed significance, particularly as it came just a few days after his “rapes happening inside temples” remark had triggered huge political controversy nationally, forcing even the national Congress to distance itself from his statements.
On Tuesday, while addressing the Sant Samagam (conclave of Hindu seers) in presence of Chief Minister Kamal Nath in Bhopal, Singh had said “saffron-clad people are selling churan, while some people dressed in saffron robes were committing rapes and the rapes are happening inside temples. Is this our religion? God will not forgive those who have defamed our religion.”
His remarks had possibly come after former BJP MP and a minister of the erstwhile Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Swami Chinmayanand, was accused by a 23-year-old student of sexual assault.
Anti-Digvijaya Singh posters bearing his pictures had come out outside temples in some areas of Bhopal, appealing that Singh’s entry be banned in temples.