Muslims encroaching on temple land along Nepal border using Palestinian land grab model: Ground report

Several recent ground reports by OpIndia have shown how demography is changing rapidly along India’s border with Nepal. The number of mosques and madarsas is rapidly increasing in the area. From August 20 to 27, 2022, an OpIndia team visited several areas in Nepal bordering India to observe the ground situation. What follows here is the 20th report of the series of reports documenting the facts noticed by the OpIndia team.

In prior reports, we discussed what locals think about the mosques, Islamic shrines and places of worship spread along the highways leading from Balrampur to Barhni and Jarwa along the open international border running between India and Nepal. We also reported how the authorities have sprung into action after the exclusive reportage by OpIndia along the UP-Nepal border.

In this report, we bring to you the conversations we had with a few Mahants and seers about the demographic changes and the rise in the number of Islamic sites of worship in Nepal and India’s border areas. We first spoke to Mahant Mahendra Das of Hanuman Garhi temple, which is located in the heart of Balrampur. Mahendra Das Ji Maharaj, the successor of Ayodhya’s revered saint Kamalnayan Das Ji Maharaj, is the Mahant of this temple. This temple is linked directly to Chhoti Chhawani, a revered structure in Ayodhya.

Mahant Mahendra Das replied to us on his official letterhead. He himself claimed that a portion of the temple was in the hands of an unauthorised occupant named Badruddin.

Temple belonging to the chairman of Ramjanmabhoomi Trust also fell prey to ‘land jihad’

Naresh Kumar, the manager of Hanuman Garhi Temple, told OpIndia that the temple was initially controlled by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the president of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, but the current Mahant of this temple is Mahendra Das. He added that for many years, Muslims have illegally encroached upon a large area of this temple, which they are gradually trying to reclaim.

The portion of the Hanuman Garhi temple encroached by Badruddin

Police administration helpless despite court orders

According to the written response by Mahant Mahendra Das to OpIndia, the unlawful occupants in Balrampur, near the Nepal border, do not even heed the court’s ruling. Mahendra Das also blamed administration officials for the non-compliance.

He noted that as the Mahant of a Hindu temple, he is a witness and sufferer of the illegal occupation of the temple’s land by some Muslims, which the administration is still unable to free even after a court order.

Document of the case filed against the illegal occupation of the temple land by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das

Palestinian land grab model

According to Mahant Mahendra Das, the Palestinian strategy was employed to seize the temple land. He added that similar to how women and children are exploited in Palestine, Muslims here used the same tactic to illegally encroach on temple land.

Elaborating on his aforesaid statement, Das said that when the Muslim parties were unable to acquire custody of the temple land after years of paperwork and legal battles, which they eventually lost in court, they placed their women and children here on the temple grounds. Their aim, like that of the Palestinians, was to utilise women and children as pawns. They made small children the perpetrators, then played the minor victim card, or else urged their women to character assassinate anyone attempting to regain the temple grounds. The temple has been unable to reclaim the land from them as a result of their tactics.

Some journalists and govt employees play an important role in this land grab

According to Mahant Mahendra Das, several media and government personnel are rallying behind the women and children in this Palestinian model of land grab in Balrampur. He stated in the letter that he will initiate a campaign to liberate all places of worship that are illegally occupied in the Shravasti Lok Sabha seat, which borders Nepal. He also asserted that he would see to it that this task is accomplished, regardless of the cost.

Balrampur police had promised to act on the court’s direction: Mahant Mahendra Das

Mahant Mahendra Das had told us previously, that the Balrampur police had stated in an official tweet that the court’s directives on illegal possession would be obeyed. In a perplexed tone, he inquired, “Then why are the authorities delaying in taking action against the illegal encroachers of the temple land”.

हनुमान गढ़ी की जमीन पर कब्जा, झारखंडी मंदिर सरोवर में ताजिया: नेपाल सीमा पर बढ़ती मुस्लिम आबादी, असर UP के बलरामपुर में – OpIndia Ground Report#NepalUPBorderIslamisation मामले पर @STVRahul की #OpIndiaGroundReport.#Balrampur #Nepal https://t.co/FbTU9ohpr9
— ऑपइंडिया (@OpIndia_in) September 9, 2022

Who leaked information to the Muslim encroachers about the impending police action against them?

According to Naresh Kumar, who manages the Hanumangarhi temple in Balrampur, after winning the case in court, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das approached the authorities and urged them to remove the illegal encroachments from temple land. According to Naresh Kumar Sehrawat, in response to this demand, higher authorities also issued directions to subordinates.

Following this, the mahant expressed his surprise, stating that two days after the administrative officials signed the letter which ordered action against these illegal encroachers, many women and children gathered at the temple site and sat there in Shaheen Bagh style.

Naresh Kumar voiced concerns that someone within the government took action and released all of this information to the Badruddin side.

Occupied during the previous regime…we will take action

OpIndia spoke with Paltu Ram, a BJP MLA from Balrampur city, about this issue of unlawful occupation along the Balrampur-Nepal border. He stated that wherever unlawful occupations are visible along the border area, are the result of the previous government’s appeasement policies. According to him, the current government is looking into the issue very seriously.

He told us that he will convey information about the situation on the Nepal border to the government and administration at his level and that he will work to resolve it as soon as possible. MLA Paltu Ram termed the media reports from the Nepal border as concerning.

A creeping Islamisation of Nepal and its border areas appears to be underway, with Islamists steadily establishing their foothold in distant villages, including those on the Indian border. In the first four parts of this series, OpIndia documented the demography change ongoing in Nepal, as well as the worrying surge in the number of mosques and madrasas in the Himalayan nation’s border villages. Additionally, we also spoke about the rising incidents of love jihad in Nepal, as well as its Delhi connection and smuggling, and various other notorious activities that are going on along India’s border with Nepal.

The first report in this series can be read here in Hindi: कभी था हिंदू बहुल गाँव, अब स्वस्तिक चिह्न वाले घर पर 786 का निशान: भारत के उस पार भी डेमोग्राफी चेंज, नेपाल में घुसते ही मस्जिद, मदरसा और इस्लाम – OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Demographic change hits other side of the border too, Mosques and Madarasas mushroom in former Hindu dominated areas in Nepal: Ground report

The second report in this series can be read here in Hindi: घरों पर चाँद-तारे वाले हरे झंडे, मस्जिद-मदरसे, कारोबार में भी दखल: मुस्लिम आबादी बढ़ने के साथ ही नेपाल में कपिलवस्तु के ‘कृष्णा नगर’ पर गाढ़ा हुआ इस्लामी रंग – OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Islamic flags flying atop houses and mosques, madarsas influencing businesses: The creeping Islamisation of Nepal’s Krishnanagar

The third report in this series can be read here in Hindi: नेपाल में लव जिहाद: बढ़ती मुस्लिम आबादी और नेपाली लड़कियों से निकाह के खेल में ‘दिल्ली कनेक्शन’, तस्कर-गिरोह भारतीय सीमा पर खतरा – OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Rising cases of love jihad in Nepal and its Delhi connection, smuggling plaguing India’s border with Nepal: Ground report

The fourth report in this series can be read here in Hindi: बौद्ध आस्था के केंद्र हों या तालाब… हर जगह मजार: श्रावस्ती में घरों की छत पर लहरा रहे इस्लामी झंडे, OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Steady rise in mazars and madarsas adjoining Buddhist places of worship in UP’s Shravasti near Indo-Nepal border: Ground report

The fifth report in this series can be read here in Hindi: महाराणा प्रताप के साथ लड़ी थारू जनजाति बहुल गाँव में 3 मस्जिद, 1 मदरसा: भारत-नेपाल सीमा पर बढ़ती मुस्लिम आबादी का ये है ‘पैटर्न’ – OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Rising number of mosques, madarsa along Indo-Nepal border: Ground report on Islamisation of village of Tharu tribe that fought along Maharana Pratap

The sixth report in this series can be read here in Hindi: बौद्ध-जैन मंदिरों के बीच दरगाह बनाई, जिस मजार को पुलिस ने किया ध्वस्त… वो फिर चकमकाई: नेपाल सीमा पर बढ़ती मुस्लिम आबादी – OpIndia Ground Report

The same report can be read here in English: Dargah and mazar built around Buddhist and Jain temple premises, illegal mazar once demolished surfaces again: UP’s Shravasti near Nepal border