The caretaker and devotees of the Panchbakhtar Mahadev temple in Jammu are protesting against the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) for planning to construct a multilayer parking and a commercial complex on the temple land, as reported by Dailyexcelsiar News.
Suresh Kumar Sharma, the caretaker of the temple alleged that the JMC and the JDA were trying to grab the temple land. He said that the land belongs to the temple and there were documents to prove that. “As per the documents available with us, the whole land belongs to the temple”, he said.
Sharma said they wanted to approach the court in relation to this matter but the court is closed for two days due to corona. He accused the administration of ignoring such a serious issue. “Not just the JMC and the JDA, even the administration is not addressing the issue. So now, when the court is closed and the administration is asleep and has turned deaf to our problem, there is only one way left, that is, to protest”, Sharma said in disappointment.
“I will pray to Mahadev to grant wisdom to the administration and the concerned authorities. These people have started grabbing the temple lands. This is the time to fight for our rights”, he added. Sharma said that people of Jammu will come in large numbers to protest but considering the corona breakout, he would request them to pray at their homes.
This is not the first time that a temple land has been targeted. There have been various instances where the lands or other property belonging to temples were encroached.
