ON WEDNESDAY, August 3o, 2006, I happened to be on the site where demolition of a Hanuman temple was taking place. Manokamna Sidh Hanuman Mandir in Yamuna Bazar near the Red Fort was visited by hundreds of devotees’ everyday, and every Tuesday the number crossed several thousand.

 

As stated in The Times of India, “The demolition was part of the drive DDA has undertaken to clear all encroachment from the banks of river Yamuna in a vicinity of 300 meters.”

 

The demolition took place without any serious discussions among the senior members of various departments related to demolition and location. The demolition of the temple was not given a serious thought and was rased just to show that the work is being done in Delhi without any partiality.

 

A question straightaway comes to mind after seeing the demolition of this religious structure. Will the government take same step if demolition orders come on structures of other religions? The answer I believe is a big ‘No’. If any Hindu raises his/her voice, he/she will be put in a jail or will have to face police lathis. If any political organisation raises its voice, it will be labelled as a ‘Hindu party’

 

By demolishing religious structures, the government is giving a chance to politicians to play out their dirty politics in the name of religion. They will see this as a good opportunity to ignite the sentiments of people in the name of religion. This can lead to religious tension and communal riots.

 

No political organisation uses religion as a tool to spread brotherhood, love and peace, instead they use religion to spread hatred and violence. They fail to understand that we all belong to the same country, and that the hatred they spread does not affect one community but the entire nation. 

 

 The government should ensure that religious constructions take place only after all the legalities are completed in order to avoid hurting religious sentiments of their citizens. I was also among the several thousand visitors who use to visit the temple every Tuesday and on seeing its debris I could not stop myself from crying and cursing the government and other leaders.

 

The government should not demolish the already existing structures. Instead it can demolish the shops surrounding it. The government and the local authorities should construct beautiful structures and should beautify its surroundings in order to make them worthy of site seeing.

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