Dadar Hanuman temple won’t be demolished railway notice stayed BJP leaders

Mumbai, Dec 14 (PTI) BJP leaders on Saturday claimed that a demolition notice issued by the Railways to an old Hanuman temple located outside Mumbai’s busy Dadar station has been stayed.


    As the Shiv Sena (UBT) sought to corner the BJP over its Hindutva commitment citing the demolition notice, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the temple would be regularised as per the rules.



    Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray visited the temple in the evening with party workers and performed `maha-aarti’. The demolition notice should be withdrawn, he demanded.

Earlier in the day, BJP legislator Mangal Prabhat Lodha said the temple will be protected.



Lodha too visited the shrine, located near Platform No 12 in Dadar East, interacted with the temple trustees, and joined in an ‘aarti’.



BJP MLA Kalidas Kolambkar and members of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad were also present.



Lodha said he had spoken with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, and an order had been issued to halt the demolition.



Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had on Friday termed the Railways’ notice to demolish the 80-year-old temple, originally built by porters working at the railway station, as a ‘fatwa’. Even temples were not safe in the BJP regime, he said.



Lodha, who represents Malabar Hill assembly constituency in the city, said the BJP was mindful of Hindu sentiments.



“We understand the sentiments of the Hindu community regarding this temple, and I assure you that no harm will come to this sacred place....BJP leaders, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers have all been in contact with railway minister Vaishnaw,” he said.



“An attempt to politicise religious sentiments has been thwarted before it could succeed, and we have successfully saved the temple,” Lodha added.



In a notice dated December 4 to the trustee/priest of the temple, the Railways claimed that the structure was an encroachment on its land.



The temple and other unauthorised structures affect the movement of commuters and vehicular traffic besides obstructing infrastructure works at the Dadar station, it said.



CM Fadnavis told reporters in Pune that the process of classification of temples was underway. “Ancient temples are preserved. The issue of Dadar Hanuman temple will be discussed with the railway administration and a solution will be found. We will regularise it as per the rules,” he said.







BJP leader Kirit Somaiya also visited the temple on Saturday. Railway officials had assured him that the temple wouldn’t be demolished, he said.



Attacking Uddhav Thackeray, Somaiya said those who put devotees of Hanuman in jail for chanting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ had to surrender eventually before the deity, referring to the arrest of former MP Navneet Rana in Mumbai two years ago.



Former MP Rahul Shewale, leader of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said he had written to Vaishnaw that a similar notice issued to the temple a few years ago was stopped following his intervention.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)