[Marxistindia] Brinda Karat's letter to Minister for Urban Development

[news from the cpi(m)]

August 16, 2019
 
Press Release
 
CPI(M) Polit Bureau Member, Brinda Karat has addressed a letter to Hardeep
Puri, Minister for Urban Development demanding that the demolished Guru
Ravidas temple is rebuilt and the samadhis are restored in their original
place. The full text of the letter is being released for publication.
 
 
 
***
 
August 16, 2019
Dear Shri Hardeep Puri ji,
 
This is to draw your attention to the demolition of the Guru Ravidas Mandir
and four samadhis in the "forest area" in Tughlaqabad extension on August
10. I had visited the place on August 14th along with my Party colleagues
and office bearers of the Dalit Soshan Mukti Manch and met the petitioners
(Guru Ravidas Samiti) who gave me the details and took us to the site.
 
I had read in the papers that you had met the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi
in this connection and are working out "a solution" namely to "allot another
place" for the temple and the samadhis. Unfortunately in these developments
the DDA, which is directly under your Ministry, has played the worst role in
riding roughshod over the legitimate grievances of the petitioners leading
to the present plight. I strongly urge you to rectify this by going in for a
review petition before the Supreme Court.
 
The entire approach of the Government is based on double standards. On the
one hand the Government is in court in defence of the "faith of people" on
the demand to build a temple in Ayodhya on the exact spot where the Babri
Masjid stood. On the other hand a spot which has been for decades a
pilgrimage centre for the devotees of Guru Ravidas  and on which a small
temple structure was erected in the decade of the fifties has been
demolished by the same Government. Even worse the samadhis of four of the
pujaris who have served in the temple since then were also demolished. Even
though there was a strong legal case, the government went against the
petitioners. Does it not display a discriminatory attitude because the
devotees belong mainly to the Scheduled Castes?
 
You are well aware that the road adjacent to where the Ravidas mandir stood
is named Guru Ravidas Marg and there are two bus stops also with the same
name, precisely because of the existence of the mandir. Is this not a
recognition of the existence of the mandir now demolished which answers the
motivated propaganda against the community as "encroachers"? If it was
encroachment then why was a public space named after the mandir? Secondly,
if you care to visit the area you will find that DDA has permitted the
building of a clubhouse in the same area. Only very recently new roads have
been built in the wooded area. Is this not double standards? I also saw that
in the course of the demolition, the DDA had destroyed a number of trees. 
 
The mandir has been operational well before independence whereas devotees
have been coming to the spot specifically a pond where they believe their
Guru Ravidas had visited for ages.  The structure demolished was built in
the decade of the fifties to replace a makeshift structure which was there.
All this is a matter of record. What is particularly distressing is that the
DDA did not even spare the samadhis of the pujaris which were broken up and
the stones to mark the graves were also left broken or under the mud. Is
this the kind of respect the DDA has for the keepers of a temple frequented
by people belonging to the scheduled castes? 
 
The Delhi High Court had made the suggestion to relocate the temple 400
yards away while keeping the samadhis intact. However the DDA by its actions
of demolition of the samadhis and the temple has changed the situation. 
 
I therefore request you to ensure that the temple is rebuilt and the
samadhis are restored in their original place. This is also to inform you
that the CPI(M) has extended support to the struggle of the devotees of Guru
Ravidas for justice.
 
With regards,
 
 
Yours sincerely
 
Sd/-
(Brinda Karat)
 
 
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