New Delhi, Sep 11, 2019 –
Hundreds of people on Tuesday marched towards the disputed site of Ravidas temple in the Tughlakabad here and tried to offer prayers, however, the police intervened and stopped them before the site.
The agitated crowd, however, did not pay any heed to the police and started worshiping on the road.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) Devesh Srivastava said the police allowed them to perform the rituals peacefully. Srivastava said the police had made adequate security arrangements restraining the people to reach the site.
However, one of the organisations, the Guru Ravidas Temple Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, which is part of the protest against the Ravidas Temple demolition, said the activists would continue worshiping at the site till the reconstruction of the temple. The organisation said they would offer prayers at the site on the 10th of every month.
Ashok Bharti, spokesman for the Guru Ravidas Movement, said the outfit are going to meet the sants in Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh for mobilising people for a grand puja on October 10.
The organisation has demanded return of the temple land to the Guru Ravidas Jainti Samarth Samiti at the earliest and withdrawal of all cases against the arrested devotees who were part of the protest against the demolition.
The committee members assured the police that its members would perform rituals peacefully.
The followers of Guru Ravidas Temple have been protesting against the demolition of the temple-structure by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Aug 10 following Supreme Court’s direction. (Agency)
