Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Minority Commission has asked the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) to investigate the allegations of corruption to investigate the possibility of corruption in the demolition of Vile Parle’s Digambar Jain temple. The Jain community has also filed a complaint with the Vile Parle police with a demand to book civic officials for demolishing the temple and hurting their religious sentiments.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been alleged of illegally demolishing the 1008 Parshvanath Digambar Jain Temple located in Vile Parle’s Kambliwadi. The civic body is accused of rushing to demolish the temple before the High Court could hear the stay appeal against demolition. The Free Press Journal reported the issue first and has been consistently following up the matter.
Following complaints from the temple trust and the All India Jain Minority Federation, the Maharashtra State Minority Commission took cognisance of the demolition. In its first hearing on Tuesday, the commission slammed the BMC for rushing the demolition and also raised questions on the civic body’s inaction against a nearby hotel, whose owner has been accused of influencing the demolition.
Jain community protests against the demolition of the Digambar Jain temple in Vile Parle, demanding action against BMC officials | File Photo
After a team from the commission held a joint inspection of the temple site along with the civic officials and the police on Tuesday, it has now asked ACB to investigate BMC’s potential corruption links related to the temple’s demolition. In its second hearing on Thursday, the commission directed the anti-graft agency to check if any civic officer acted in this matter for financial interests.
After the commission’s direction to the police, the temple trust has written a complaint to the Vile Parle police demanding to book the civic officials for forcefully demolishing the temple and hurting their religious sentiments. The trust has alleged that the civic officials demolished the temple under the pretext of only demolishing its shade. It also alleged that multiple religious idols and texts were damaged due to the forceful demolition.
Anil Shah, trustee of the temple, said, “The BMC has disrespected our religion by damaging our religious idols and literature. We do not touch these sacred items without worship clothes and they just threw them out. A lot of idols and texts have been completely damaged as they were crushed under the debris.”
BMC To Strike Down On The Accused Hotelier
The BMC has started the process to strike down on the hotelier, who has been accused of influencing the temple’s demolition to build a hotel with a bar at the site. The community has alleged that the hotel, which is right next to the temple, has carried out multiple violations including illegal structures.
The BMC submitted in front of the commission that it has issued notices under Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act’s Section 53(1) for the removal of unauthorised development. It will also submit a detailed report about the hotel’s violations to the commission.
Jain Community Holds Nation-wide Unity Rallies
The Jain community in Mumbai showed its strength on Saturday through the mega ahimsa rally where thousands of community members protested against the demolition of the Digambar Jain Temple. Meanwhile, All India Jain Minority Federation (AIMJF) held nationwide unity rallies on Thursday opposing recent untoward incidents against the community, including the temple’s demolition. Jain communities in 40 cities across Maharashtra and India carried out unity rallies.
“The response to the call of nationwide rallies was great and Jains have proved that we are all together against the attacks on our community,” said Sandeep Bhandari, national vice president of AIJMF.
