By Deepal Trivedi
Ahmedabad, Nov. 19: Over 200 illegal temples and Hindu religious structures have been demolished in Gandhingar and Surat amidst protests that one-time Hindutva poster boy Narendra Modi is falling short of protecting the "rights" of the majority population. The Congress has dubbed the demolition drive a Modi gimmick.
Special "mandir bachao" committees have been formed to protest against the government’s move to raze illegal temples. Gandhingar observed a bandh on Wednesday to protest against the action. After a Sai Baba temple was razed in Gandhingar on Tuesday night, citizens came out on the roads shouting anti-Modi slogans. "Such temple demolitions have not taken place even during the worst of the Mughal era," said Jagdish Rawal of Gandhinagar, who is leading an anti-government protest in his area. Most of the temples are being demolished after they failed to obtain a stay order against their demolition.
In Surat, the police had to resort to a lathicharge and four women were injured when they protested against the razing of a Shiva temple in Rander area. According to sources, the demolition drive will continue and there are still over 350 illegal temples in Gandhinagar. The sources said 107 temples on main roads and another 312 on interior roads will be demolished.
The operation, being conducted jointly by the collectorate, forest department and police, is aimed at freeing roads of illegal structures.
The VHP has taken strong objection to the temple demolition drive. VHP leaders say that on one hand Mr Modi is being projected as the BJP’s Hindutva face while on the other the Modi government is taking action that displeases Hindus.
Interestingly, most of the illegal temples in Guajrat are built by migrants who come to the state. However, the move to raze temples is being protested by believers who say Mr Modi has initiated the drive because he now wants to project himself as a secular face in national politics.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil said, "The demolition drive is power politics. Modi aspires to have a presence at the Centre. With his hardline Hindutva he could never do it, so now, by ordering demolitions, he is trying to prove his secular credentials."
