Saying Taj Mahal's gate obstructs temple's entrance, VHP-activists create ruckus
Alleging a gate at the West entrance of Taj Mahal obstructed the entrance to a '400-year-old' Siddheshwar Mahadev temple, activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) created ruckus at the monument, and scared some foreign tourists too, on Sunday. An FIR has been lodged against 30 people. Reportedly the slogan-shouting activists also managed to uproot part of turnstile gate. Here are the details.
The right-wing members stormed the Western gate just as ASI officials were in the process of installing turnstile gates and door frame metal detectors. Ravi Dubey, a member of VHP and general secretary of Siddheshwar Mahadev Temple Committee, said, "The temple is 400 years old and has been in existence prior to Taj Mahal. So there is no logic in blocking passage to temple."
"We dislodged the turnstile gate and will not allow it to be installed at any cost. We will meet the district magistrate on Monday to press our demand," said Ravi Dubey. ASI officials said the miscreants were 20-25 in number and brought iron rods along.
When the group started raising slogans, tourists, especially foreigners, were taken aback by the sudden protest. Additional city magistrate, Garima Singh condemned the hooliganism and said, "If they have any issues, they should meet the officials concerned and apprise them of the issue." Meanwhile, Prabhat Kumar, circle officer of Taj security revealed an alternative passage to the temple has been made.
An FIR was registered against the miscreants and five people, including Dubey, were named in the police document. Tarun Dutt Sharma, conservation assistant for ASI complained about the incident. The activists were slapped with IPC sections 147 (riots) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty). Section 7 of CLA Act was also used for damaging government property.
