The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : BJP condemns demolition

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Saturday, Dec 13, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

BJP condemns demolition

HYDERABAD: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday condemned the demolition work taken up by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) at a place of worship at Koti Women’s College bus stop and termed it as a step that hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. In a statement issued here, the party demanded a comprehensive enquiry into the incident and removal of the officials who were responsible for the demolition. It also criticised the police lathi charge on the protestors.

The Lok Satta Party in a separate statement termed the GHMC’s succumbing to religious pressure by agreeing to reconstruct a demolished temple that obstructed traffic as a disgrace. The party Working Committee members Laxman Balaji and N.Ravinder said the government was duty bound to remove all such encroachments irrespective of the religion they belong.

“By agreeing to reconstruct the temple and suspending officials for undertaking the demolition, the authorities succumbed to religious blackmail,” they said and condemned the Sangh Parivar for resorting to violence and obstructing officials from discharging their duty. The Lok Satta also accused the government of interfering in religious matters through subsidies for pilgrimages to serve their narrow vote bank politics.

‘A hasty step’

The Communist Party of India, A.P. State Council, in a statement described the demolition as a hasty step on part of the authorities. In such sensitive issues, the government should have called for a meeting of political parties and consulted their representatives to arrive at consensus. The CPI State Council Secretary, K. Narayana appealed people to maintain calm and not believe in rumours.

‘Involve all’

The Jana Chaitanya Vedika called upon the government to take up steps to remove places of worship that were creating traffic hurdles and relocate them at other places.

In a statement, V.Lakshma Reddy, Vedika State president said the government should invite all religious heads and leaders of political parties to discuss the issue and take steps in this direction.

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Andhra Pradesh