The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is facing a lot of criticism for demolishing the 90-year-old Digambar Jain Temple in Vile Parle. The Maharashtra Minority Commission has slammed the BMC and called this demolition a crime. The Minority Commission said that BMC seemed to have an interest in rushing for the temple’s demolition while hearing the case, reported the Free Press Journal. The temple was torn down on April 16 before the High Court could hear the appeal to stay the demolition. After this, the Jain Community got upset and held an Ahimsa Rally on April 19, demanding strict action against BMC officials responsible for demolition.
Under Pyare Ziya Khan's leadership, the commission examined the force used to remove the sacred texts and leave the place of worship. He dragged up the BMC, claiming that their demolition was like a criminal activity, and he also noted that the civic body appeared to be interested in tearing down the temple. In order to explain why it shouldn't be charged with a crime, it has requested that the corporation respond, the report added.
Pyare Ziya also noted that the demolition was a pre-planned act. He observed that the demolition order dated April 16 was signed a day prior. He questioned BMC why the order was signed before the civil court’s stay order dated April 8 was lifted. Raising concerns over this demolition activity, the commission asked BMC to submit a reply about how many illegal structures have been demolished by them until now, the report added.
The commission also noted that the police were only following the orders passed on by the administration in this incident. It also directed the Deputy Commissioner of police (Zone-8), Manish Kalwaniya, to help the temple trust file a report regarding the stolen essentials of the temple, the report added.
Members of the Jain community reported that the hotel operator has been exploiting flats in the society, where the temple is located, as hotel rooms and has carried out a lot of unlawful building. They asserted that although the hotelier was the subject of a 2006 complaint, BMC did nothing to address the issue. They also alleged that jewelry and money from the temple’s donation box had been missing after the BMC tore down the temple, and a few devotees had to be hospitalised as they got injured due to manhandling by the police.