The shopkeepers of Ariyankuppam downed their shutters and the residents raised black flags atop their houses along the road to protest the setting up of a gurdwara in the area here, on Tuesday.
The residents were agitated as their appeals for using the land for establishing a market, bus stand and a common facility for sports and an alternative site for the Sikh worship place were ignored.
The area witnessed a total shut down of shops and the people did not allow vehicular traffic inside Ariyankuppam. Leaders of political parties, RKR Anantharaman (PMK), Vinayagamurthy (Cong), Logu Ayappan (DV K) supported the “total shut down” in the area.
Anantharaman told Express that the people had been staging agitations since the allotment of government porombokku land way back in 2010. The allotment of government land was taken up with the then government, and the move to set up gurdwara was stopped.
Residents were against the allotment of nearly two acres for the gurdwara, which will be used as a worship place for only a total of 90 Sikh community members in the whole of Puducherry. They wanted the land to be used for setting up common facilities such as market, which will cater to the needs of people of Ariyankuppam commune, the PMK leader said.
Stressing that they were not opposed to the Sikh religion or the community, he said if the land is utilised for setting up common facilities, it will cater to a larger section of people.
Anantharaman said the issue was brought to CM N Rangasamy’s notice after locals found that the land was cleared for the foundation laying ceremony. He claimed that CM had taken it up with the LG, who went ahead and laid the foundation stone for Guru Nanak Gurudwara at the land allotted to ‘Sukhmani Committee’ on October 22, 2010. (It may be recalled that police held 96 people as a preventive measure ahead of the function on July 25).
The PMK leader said the allotment of government land in this rural area may lead to problems later as the residents were opposed to it.
Anantharaman said that a memorandum, in the form of fax message, would be submitted to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi, inviting their attention to the issue.