CHANDIGARH: Senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Punjab Assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema, has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the demolition of the 540-year-old Sri Guru Ravidas temple at Tuglaqabad in Delhi by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), on August 10, which had sparked widespread condemnation from the community and cross sections of the society, including the Sikhs.
In a letter to the prime minister, the AAP leader decried the despicable act of demolition of the historic temple which had hurt religious sentiments not only of the teeming millions of followers of the great saint but people from other communities, including the Sikhs, in various parts of Punjab and Delhi in particular and others in general.
The AAP leader in his letter informed that the temple of Sri Guru Ravidas was built in the Tughlaqabad area more than five hundred years ago where Guruji is believed to have stayed for three days and delivered discourse to the ‘sangat’ (congregation), which included people from cross section of communities.
Cheema, while urging the prime minister to intervene in the matter, has demanded that a special session of Parliament be convened to discuss the matter as to also to bring the temple land out of the occupation of the DDA. The historic shrine, which was demolished using police force, be restored to its pristine glory to assuage the hurt sentiment of the people, the letter appealed to the prime minister.
In his 2-page letter, Cheema, shedding flood light on the history of the temple, said the temple land was acquired by the DDA in 1986 during the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress Government’s regime, adding that the temple managing committee had to fight a long-drawn legal battle to bring the land out of DDA’s occupation.
The letter further added that after the court deciding the case in favour of the Delhi Development Authority, the committee moved the Supreme Court against the decision. The apex court's decision which came on April 8, 2019 maintained a status quo, which led to the demolition of the temple on August 10 using police force, the letter further said.
The AAP leader urged the prime minister that the temple demolished may be restored to its pristine glory and a research centre be set up on the premise in the name of Sri Guru Ravidas Research and Study Centre.
The letter informed that a delegation of led by him (Cheema) and party MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan, had earlier met union minister of urban development, Hardeep Singh Puri, in this regard urging him to help restore the ancient shrine.
In a separate statement issued from party headquarters in Chandigarh on Friday, the AAP leader lambasted leaders of the Akali Dal (Badal), BJP and the Congress, who were indulging a false propaganda against Delhi CM Arvind Kejrival dragging him into the sacrilegious act by hiding the sins of the union government which controls the DDA as also concealing the facts about the acquisition of the temple land in 1986 under the nose of the then Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government.