Hyderabad: TPCC President N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said demolition of places of worship in Secretariat complex and also described reaction of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on the issue as ‘adding insult to the injury’.
Reddy, in a media statement on Friday, said that the statement given by CM KCR on the damage caused to two mosques and a temple during the demolition of the Secretariat structures was self-contradictory. “It is extremely unfortunate that the temple and mosque in the Secretariat complex, which were considered very sacred by all the government employees and all others in both in erstwhile AP and now separate Telangana, were seriously damaged/ demolished in the ongoing Secretariat demolition. 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.
Uttam said that the Chief Minister’s claim that while demolishing the multi-storied old buildings, the temple and mosque adjacent to the old buildings were damaged due to fall of the debris on them proves that demolition was carried out in a haphazard manner. 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.
The TPCC Chief said CM’s statement assuring construction of a new mosque and temple indicates that the places of worship were completely damaged. Else, the Chief Minister would have assured immediate repair and restoration. Further, he said that the Chief Minister did not assure construction of temple and mosque at the same place. His assurance is quite vague which shows that he had no intention to reconstruct the damaged places of worship at the same place, he said.
Reddy found fault with the Chief Minister for not consulting the religious heads of the temple and mosque before carrying out the demolitions. He said KCR has lost the trust of people belonging to all communities. 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.
“KCR is trampling upon the religious sentiments of those people who made him what he is today. He will get a befitting reply from the Hyderabadis at an appropriate time,” he said.
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