Vile Parle Jain Temple Demolition: Maharashtra Minority Commission Criticises BMC For Hasty Action, Demands Investigation

Mumbai: A team the Maharashtra State Minority Commission headed by its vice chairman held an inspection at the site of the demolished Jain temple in Vile Parle after the commission ordered a site survey to assess the damage of the temple. The commission called the municipal corporation’s demolition as an illegal act observing that the civic body seemed to have an interest in the demolition.

On Tuesday, the state minority commission severely criticised BMC for demolishing the 1008 Digambar Jain Temple in Vile Parle’s Kambli Wadi after receiving multiple complaints from the minority community. The temple was demolished on April 16 early in the morning before the High Court could hear the appeal to stay the demolition. The Free Press Journal reported the issue first and has been consistently following up the matter.

The commission, under the chairmanship of Pyare Ziya Khan, took cognizance of the force used to vacate the temple and throw out the religious scriptures. Khan pulled up the BMC saying that their way of carrying out the demolition is like a criminal activity and also observed that the civic body seemed to have an interest in demolishing the temple. It asked the corporation to file a reply about why a criminal offence should not be booked against it.

Vile Parle Jain temple demolition sparks controversy as Maharashtra State Minority Commission slams BMC for hasty actions

“The speed at which the municipal corporation has acted in this case seems like they were going to fight a war or were planning to build a Taj Mahal in place of the temple. BMC’s actions might be valid according to the law but their way was totally wrong, that can be equated to a criminal activity,” observed Khan.

Questioning the demolition as pre-planned act, the chairman also asked BMC to file a reply on why the demolition order, released on April 16, was signed a day before the civil court’s stay order dated April 8 was lifted. He also raised concerns over the BMC’s demolition activity early in the morning and asked the corporation to submit a reply about how many illegal structures have been demolished during early morning until now.

The commission’s vice-chairman Chetan Dedhia observed that the corporation did not obtain permission from the charity commissioner or consult the minority commission before the demolition. “While the BMC demolished the temple, it spared the hotel near the temple which has been accused of illegal structures since 2006. It seems like the hotel is more important for BMC than the temple,” he said.

The operator of the said hotel is accused by the community of influencing the demolition work. They also alleged that around 75% of apartments in the society, where the temple is located, are being illegally used as hotel rooms. They claimed that a complaint has been filed against the hotelier in 2006 but BMC has failed to take any action against him.

Anil Shah, trustee of the temple, said, “Since we were not allowed to take out all the idols and other belongings, the jewelry and money from the temple’s donation box have been missing after the demolition. A few devotees had to be hospitalised after being injured due to manhandling by the police.”

While the commission went smooth on the police, observing that they were only following the orders passed on by the administration, it directed DCP Kalwaniya to assist the temple trust in filing a complaint regarding the stolen material from the temple.

Following the chairman’s order, a joint inspection was carried out in the evening by the commission’s vice chairman along with in-charge ward officer Swapnaja Kshirsagar and deputy commissioner of police (Zone-8) Manish Kalwaniya. The joint inspection surveyed the hotel’s irregularities as well as the temple’s demolition.

The commission had also summoned the municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani but he did not attend the hearing. However, deputy municipal commissioner Vishwas Mote, on behalf of the corporation, apologised for hurting the sentiments of the community.

He said, “The society was not able to obtain full occupancy certificate due to the temple and it had become a liability of the society and the builder. Since they could not settle it, we were asked to interfere. We initiated the demolition nine times but could succeed only in the tenth try,” adding that the temple trust, society and the developer should sit together and sort out the matter.

MLAs Meet CM, Urge His Intervention

On Tuesday, Mumbai Suburban district’s joint guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Vile Parle MLA Parag Alavani, Andheri East MLA Murji Patel and representatives from the Jain community met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and demanded immediate inquiry as well as disciplinary action against the concerned officials for demolishing the temple.

The delegation also met civic chief Bhushan Gagrani urging him to hold an immediate joint meeting with the concerned officials and survey the site to help the community reconstruct the temple.

Jain Group Meets Union Minister Of Minority Affairs

Union minister of minority affairs Kiren Rijiju was in Mumbai on Tuesday to meet the members of the Muslim community and address their concerns about the Waqf Act. Meanwhile, All India Jain Minority Federation also took the opportunity to meet him and address their concerns regarding multiple recent instances that have hurt the community’s sentiments, including the Vile Parle temple’s demolition.

The delegation urged the minister to ensure that the civic officials involved in the demolition are suspended and the temple is restored by BMC.