VHP men damage AMC Mayor's office over temple demolition

VHP men damage AMC Mayor's office over temple demolition
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

AHMEDABAD, FEB 19: Like a yearly ritual, the Sangh Parivar members on Saturday vandalised the Ahmedabad Mayor's office demanding the reconstruction of a temple demolished by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). There was a similar incident last year over a temple demolition.

An irate mob of about 30 Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists forced their way into the AMC headquarters at about 6.15 pm to make representations regarding the demolition of a part of a temple near Uttamnagar garden in Maninagar. Senior BJP leaders including Mayor Malini Atit, Gautam Patel and Surendra Patel, were the targets of the mob.

The activists let out a string of abuses against the ruling BJP, stating that it had forgotten Hinduism after it come to power. The leaders went to the extent of calling the elected wing useless. ``Nalayako ne chootin ne mokalya chhe (we have elected good for nothing people),'' said a VHP worker who had managed to reach the Mayor's office using the elevators meant for officials.

The activists shouted that construction by minorities had flourished during its regime. ``You remove temples while other religious structures continue to encroach. We can prove that your corporators are taking cuts from illegal constructions by other communities,'' said activists. Those who had managed to enter the premises included senior leaders Bhanu Barot and Bhagwanji Vasani. Both insisted that all the workers be allowed to enter the premises. ``They are our office-bearers. You cannot behave like this with them,'' said Barot to the security personnel. The duo rejected requests of BJP leaders to send a delegation.

The activists, who were denied entry into the second floor housing the board room and the Mayor's office, managed to overpower the securitymen and entered the Mayor's chamber. Here they smashed glass table tops, showcases and chairs. Despite all this, Mayor Malini Atit did not meet the activists till about 6.35 pm. The irate mob shouted slogans like ``Malinibibi hai hai'' and ``Surendra kako hai hai''. An irate VHP member said, ``They come to us for votes during elections. See what we do the next time they approach us. We will not allow them to move in the constituency.''

Repeated requests by octroi committee chairman Amit Shah, cultural committee chairman Bharati Patel as well as other councillors fell on the deaf ears. Finally, when Atit came to meet the crowd, they insisted that she should immediately set a deadline for rebuilding the temple. They turned down requests by her for holding discussions with other officials.

Eventually the Mayor and the delegation agreed on a deadline till Monday, by when a decision would be taken on the issue. The volunteers threatened that if a decision was not taken in this regard, they would reach the residences of AMC office-bearers and teach them a lesson. Demolition squads of AMC had brought down part of a temple early on Thursday morning as a part of it had encroached on a road in the town planning scheme The portion was not a part of the actual premises, but was extended later. Standing committee chairman, Dharmendra Shah, had said that similar action would be taken against other such premises. However, he added, this would be done with adequate support from the police and residents of the area to prevent any friction.

Earlier on Saturday, a Youth Congress delegation had submitted a memorandum demanding the reconstruction of the temple. The memorandum stated that BJP's ``hindutva'' had become a mockery. Opposition leader Himmatsinh Patel condemned the violence and said the House should pass a resolution in this regard.