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In a memorandum delivered to Surat District Collector Ayush Oak and Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Tomar on Thursday, the Gorat Temple Commission asked to revoke permission under the “Troubled Areas Act” for developers to build multiple high-rise towers for “non-Hindus” near a shrine mentioned in the memorandum.
Members of Gorat Hanuman Kshetra Samvardhak Samithi in Adajan district have asked for permission to be revoked by the City Prant Office under the Developers Troubled Areas Act. “If we don’t do justice here, we will go to Delhi and meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the coming days and make representations to him,” said Kanti Randaria, the organizer of the meetings.
“There are several applications of the Disturbed Areas Act pending in City Prant’s office. Why was this application cleared on a priority basis? No statements were taken from nearby temples and residents. The police took statements from relatives of the landowners from whom the builder purchased the land,” Randrea claimed while speaking with the newspaper. The Indian Express said the police did not take into account the statements of the temple trustees and people associated with it.
He added, “We have submitted a request to the Surat district mosque to revoke the permission given to the builders. We do not want any political leader to interfere in this issue because it is a battle between the local people. We have also set an appointment with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In the coming days, we will go to Delhi.” And we bring our cases to him. We just want justice and for that, we’ll do anything. We’ve also planned huge rallies, to get the locals on the road.”
Meanwhile, Ayush Oak, Surat Provincial Collector, rejected the claims, “Our officials followed the standards of the troubled area law and the statements of the seller whose approval was duly followed and even a fair price was given to the owners. Our teams also checked whether the land seller was not under any pressure.” “The role of the police department is to take people’s statements, taking into account the law and order situation. Our officials have disposed of the request within 20 days.”
Insisting that we “duly and fairly followed all procedures duly”, Inspector AS Sonara at Rander Police Station said, “Our teams have taken statements from ten Hindus and eight Muslims. After preparing our report, we sent it to the Office of the Assistant Commissioner of Police and then to the Deputy Commissioner of Police. Signed by them, the application reaches the Special Branch and is later forwarded to the City Prant office for further processing.”
In their memorandum, Jurat Hanuman Kshetra Samvardhak Samithi, the body of Jurat Hanuman temple in Adagan district, mentions 14 names. The note added that the land is an open land holding 18,818 square meters of land adjacent to the Jorat Hanuman temple.
The memo further adds that the Adajan region falls under the Troubled Areas Act as per a state government notification dated March 14, 2020. The developers applied for approval under the Act on July 3.
Temple committee members further alleged that proper rules under the Troubled Areas Act standards were not being followed by the police and Brant’s office. Non-Hindus (Muslims) will come and reside in multiple high-rises and this will create conflict with the majority Hindu population in the areas. Every day, morning and evening prayers are held regularly in the temple, and are attended by a large number of devotees. Even during religious festivals and other days, cultural programs are conducted and people actively participate. There are more than five residential communities with more than hundreds of bungalows and high-rise towers,” according to their competition.
Speaking to The Indian Express, BJP MLA of Surat West Purnesh Modi said, “I have been out of town for the past week. If the agitating leaders contact me, we will have talks with the authorities to come up with solutions.” Gorat is located in Modi district.
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