HYDERABAD: The Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Committee (BGUS) took a strong stance on the immersion of PoP Ganesh idols in water bodies across the city including Vinayak Sagar (Hussainsagar).
"All the fundamental rights, rituals and customs have to be protected as enshrined in the Constitution of India and no government can act against the fundamental rights given to the citizens. Courts should carry out their functions as per the Constitution of India but they are not above the Constitution and BGUS will continue the tradition that has been going on for a long time," BGUS General Secretary, Bhagvanth Rao told The New Indian Express.
Insisting that the State and court should protect the faith and fundamental right of the people, Bhagvanth Rao said, "Both the government and court should protect our fundamental rights, not usurp them and allow us to perform our rituals and immerse the idols in the water bodies," and reiterated that it was the 'right of people' to not only worship god but also immerse the idols.
The same was conveyed by BGUS to the State government on Tuesday.
Bhagvanth Rao also pointed out that despite the apex court banning Jallikattu, a popular bull-taming sport held in Tamil Nadu during Pongal festival, the festival was still being carried out. Hence, it was the responsibility of the State government to carry out necessary arrangements for immersion of the idols.
"If any obstacles are created by the government or preventing them for idol immersion, roads will be blocked with idols," BGUS members said.