Punjab offers to bear expenditure for Ravidas temple in Delhi
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Jan, 2022 11:38 AM
Chandigarh, Jan 4 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday said the state is ready to bear the entire expenditure to be incurred on land allotment by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for the construction of the Sant Ravidas temple in the national capital.
The centuries-old Ravidas temple in Tughlakabad was demolished by the DDA on August 10 in 2019 following a Supreme Court order. Since then, a series of protests have been organised by Dalit organisations.
The temple was built in the 15th century on land allocated by the then Delhi emperor, Sikander Lodhi. Guru Ravidas had spent three days at the same place in Delhi where this temple was built.
An official statement quoting Channi said the DDA had recently asked the Guru Ravidas Vishram Dham Mandir Chamarwala Johar Tughlakabad Committee to submit Rs 4.33 crore for taking 400 sq m land with the capitalised rent for 30 years.
Since the amount was hefty, Channi said various delegations have approached him for seeking requisite contribution from the state government.
He said as the state government is following the ideology of Guru Ravidas in the right earnest and therefore in the same spirit, they have now decided that if the committee desires so, the state government will bear the entire expense for procuring the land to construct the temple at Tughlakabad.
Sant Ravidas was a 16th century spiritual leader who is worshiped by Dalits. Many of his teachings were also included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holiest book for the Sikhs.
The Dalit community has a large population in state's Doaba region comprising Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Kapurthala districts.
It is simply not news – although it might be if it were banned in the West, not just in India. For Canada, Britain and the US, freedom of speech is the rule and there's been no effort to silence SFJ. Although this irritates Indian authorities, Western politicians do not pay any price for tolerating speech which voters hardly notice, Milewski said.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday made a slew of historical announcements for the Christian community, including setting up of a Chair at university level for the study of the Bible. In his address here, the Chief Minister said that Christians would be given due representation in the state government boards.
The commission's team also comprises three Deputy Election Commissioners, Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Nitesh Vyas and T. Sreekanth, besides Director General Sheyphali B. Sharan.
According to the official, an FIR was registered under sections 380, 457 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code at Jagatpuri police station where the complainant stated that a cash of Rs 5 lakh and jewellery have been stolen from his house while he was outside home in an engagement function of his daughter.
Addressing members of industrial associations, who called on Channi here in the presence of Local Government Minister Brahm Mohindra, he said that most of their demands have already been met as promised by him during the Punjab Investors' Summit.
A Rajya Sabha member and close aide of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her inception in Punjab affairs has caused suspicion among the leaders in Punjab who were fighting a turf war. Soni could be reckoned to be the choice of the high command if Congress returns to power as a consensus candidate.
