By Omar Rashid
New Delhi: They have finally discovered an old temple in Sambhal. But it was not found under the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid or any other mosque in the western Uttar Pradesh city.
The administration and police in Sambhal have revived a small temple, which was lying dormant for the past few years, in a Muslim locality. Not only did the administration get the temple and the well near it cleaned, and have revived Hindu puja at the site, they have also written to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) requesting the agency to study the ‘ancient’ temple to determine its age.
The district magistrate (DM) of Sambhal Rajender Pensiya and superintendent of police (SP) Krishan Kumar Bishnoi even offered prayers at the revived temple, which was allegedly stumbled upon by the administration during an anti-encroachment drive. Officials have installed CCTV cameras in the temple as a security measure and stationed police guards near it.
The administration, which drew widespread criticism after four Muslim men were killed in violence during a controversial survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, has floated the theory that the Hindus living in the Khaggu Sarai locality were forced to flee from there following the 1978 communal violence. That was 46 years ago. Since then, the administration said, the temple was left unattended and was encroached upon by a wall that was constructed around it.
Local Hindus, however, have contested this theory, and said that the temple was always in their control even when they had gradually moved out of the locality. The temple was functioning and open till 2006, said Dharmendra Rastogi, whose family had locked the structure and built a wall around it as a protective cover before they sold their property and moved to another locality.
Another Hindu resident Vishnu Sharan Rastogi, patron of the city’s Hindu Sabha, said that though they did sell their house in Khaggu Sarai following the 1978 riots, they were never stopped by the Muslims living in the area from visiting the temple.
“We had to close the temple as the priests could not live here,” said Vishnu Sharan, adding that this made it difficult for the Hindus to manage and take care of the temple. He added that the temple had been closed since the riots. “After the riots Hindu gradually moved to other colonies and we couldn’t take care of the temple. Nobody objected to or stopped us from coming,” said Rastogi.
The temple, whose age is unknown, was opened by additional SP Shrish Chandra and deputy SP Anuj Chaudhary , who were seen removing dirt and dust from the shivling and an orange idol of Hanuman. Officer Chaudhary even rang the bell in the temple.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
