TIRUCHY: Employees of BHEL, who are members of Scheduled Caste Uplift Union (SCUU), installed an idol of Buddha inside the Township on Sunday morning. The 3.5-feet stone idol bought from Mahabalipuram was installed near the Om Sakthi temple. About 100 persons including employees and their family took part in the ceremony. A monk preached the teachings of Buddha to them.
Upon knowing this, cops from the Boiler police station conducted inquiries with the organisers and called for a tripartite meeting with the organisers and the company management on Monday.
R Devendran, an employee, said “The event is organised on behalf of Maha Bodhi Buddha Sangam. About 50 employees, who converted to Buddhism and owe allegiance to the Sangam, installed this idol. Talking to Express, he said, “In February we submitted a petition to the BHEL management seeking allocation of land in the Township to establish a Buddha Vihar. The management argued that land was never allotted for any religious structures. Hence, similar to other temples in the Township, we installed the Buddha idol and soon we would be building a Buddha Vihar.”
B Krishnaraj, president of SCUU, said, “We submitted petition to the management after getting signatures from 600 employees demanding allocation of land for Buddha Vihar. While other places of worship exist in the Township, why not Buddha Vihar? Already 50 staff turned Buddhists and more are waiting to convert. The management should come forward to allot land.” Fearing that the idol might be removed at night, some members of SCUU decided to stay put. BHEL sources said as per the rules the company could not allot lands for any religious sites in the Township.