The Congress continued its attack on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao over the demolition of religious structures in the Secretariat complex and said the blind belief in Vaastu has led to the present demolition, hurting religious sentiments of people.
In a statement, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy described the reaction of Chief Minister on the issue as “adding insult to the injury.”
“If the Secretariat demolition was bad enough and a Tughlaq-like decision, the damage of the temple and mosque has hurt the sentiments of people belonging to all communities,” he said.
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The TPCC chief also alleged that if the mosque and temple in the Secretariat complex are not safe from illegal demolition, they are unsafe everywhere in Telangana under the TRS regime. He said that the Chief Minister has set a bad precedent and it might become a norm in future to demolish any place of worship and say sorry later.
He said demolition was carried out in a haphazard manner and the impact of demolition was not analysed and no precautions were taken to protect the places of worship, which included a heritage structure. He said several laws pertaining to protection of places of worship and preservation of heritage structures were violated.
Meanwhile, at a press conference, Malkajgiri MP A. Revanth Reddy, former Minister Shabbir Ali and former MP Vishweshwer Reddy said the Nalla Pochamma temple in the Secretariat was the symbol of the Telangana movement while the mosque was a heritage structure.
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Mr. Revanth Reddy said the CM is hell bent on demolition with superstitious beliefs that his son K.T. Rama Rao cannot become the Chief Minister with the Vastu of the present Secretariat building.
“Spending ₹ 500 crores for the new structure just for his blind beliefs in unacceptable,” he said.
Mr. Reddy alleged that the Chief Minister also misled the court on the demolitions without obtaining necessary permissions from the agencies concerned. He said the National Green Tribunal (NGT) will not allow any structures to come up near Hussainsagar lake while the environment clearances are also yet to come.
Finding fault with the MIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi for tweeting in support of Chief Minister’s assurance that new temple and mosque would be built, he said his support is unfortunate.
He also questioned the BJP’s silence on the issue stating their belief was only in religious politics, and yet they did not respond. Why is the Union Minister Kishan Reddy not responding, he asked.
Mr. Shabbir Ali said if Mr. Owaisi is supporting the CM’s actions, why is he doing politics over the demolition of Babri Masjid all these years. He said the religious structures were not personal assets of individuals but belonged to the State and connected with the sentiments of the people.