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Centre to give land for Ravidas temple
New Delhi: The Centre has agreed to provide land to build a temple to Guru Ravidas, revered by the Dalits, at the same site in the capital where a Ravidas shrine
New Delhi: The Centre has agreed to provide land to build a temple to Guru Ravidas, revered by the Dalits, at the same site in the capital where a Ravidas shrine was demolished a month ago, the Supreme Court was informed on Friday.
Attorney general KK Venugopal told a bench led by justice Arun Mishra that the government will allocate 200 square metres of area at the site and hand it over to a committee of Ravidas devotees for the construction of a temple.
This, he said, was being done to ensure law and order. The committee will be constituted by the Centre in consultation with the stakeholders within a period of four months. Venugopal handed over a memorandum of settlement to the court, which said it will hear the matter again on October 21.
“.. taking note of the intense religious faith of the devotees in this very site, where the statue of Guru Ravida ji is installed and the four samadhis of Babajis exist, the government has decided that in view of the overwhelming faith, belief and emotional attachment of the devotees, that they would permit the worship by the devotees at the site,” read the memorandum of settlement. The allocation would be subject to certain conditions, it said.
The temple, located in the Tuglaqabad area of South Delhi, was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on the directions of the top court, which ordered that the structure be razed after it was declared unauthorized.
The order led to massive protests in some parts of Punjab. On the day the Delhi Development A razed the temple the area around Tuglaqanad witnessed massive traffic jams after followers of Guru Ravidas took to the streets in protest.
A group of devotees also approached the top court with a request to let them continue offering prayers at the site. Devotees must have been heard before the demolition order was passed as the action upset their right to faith, they told the court. On October 4 Justice Mishra’s bench had asked the petitioners’ lawyers to sit with Venugopal, who was told to find an amicable solution.
During the hearing, Venugopal informed the bench that the memorandum of settlement had not been signed by two of the seven petitioners. The proposal was finalized after he held consultation with all the parties, including the Ravidas followers and government officials.
As per the memorandum of settlement the area permitted for worship will be enclosed and nobody would be allowed to raise any structure outside the boundary. There shall be a gate for entry to the shrine. The four old samadhis shall be restored but no structure will be constructed over them.
Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday welcomed the Centre’s decision to give land to build the Ravidas temple.
“The people of Delhi and even those in other states took to streets after the temple was demolished. The Center has taken the decision under public pressure and protests,” said Gopal Rai, Delhi convener of AAP.
