Restoration of demolished temples in violence-hit Murshidabad to start from April 30: Suvendu Adhikari

Kolkata, April 28 The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Monday announced that the restoration, renovation, and rebuilding of temples demolished in the communal violence-hit and minority-dominated Murshidabad district will start from Wednesday, which coincides with the auspicious occasion of 'Akshyaya Tritiya'.

Incidentally, the Lord Jagannath temple at Digha in East Midnapore district, modelled after the iconic Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri in Odisha, will also be inaugurated on the same day in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Murshidabad district was on the boil earlier this month for a substantial period as communal violence broke out during the protests against the Waqf (Amendment Act).

Several Hindu temples and religious establishments, as well as property and houses of Hindus, were reportedly destroyed in that violence.

Adhikari, on Monday morning, issued a video message through his X handle and Facebook account announcing the beginning of the restoration work of the vandalised temples in Murshidabad from Wednesday.

“Currently, these temples bear the marks of the heinous, condemnable, and barbaric attacks of the jihadists. The 'purification' and renovation process will be carried out by properly observing all traditional religious rituals,” read the message written in Bengali, which is attached to the video.

He also said that in the restoration process, no financial assistance will be accepted from the West Bengal government, which, according to him, is anti-Hindu. He added that all the expenses for the proposed restoration work will be borne by the common people from the Hindu community.

“The Hindus of Murshidabad cannot be deprived of the right to worship in their village and neighbourhood temples. These temples are as important as our pilgrimage sites,” Adhikari said.

Recently, the National Commission for Women (NCW) issued a statement highlighting the negligence and failure on the part of the West Bengal government to take preventive action against communal violence despite having enough prior intelligence inputs.

On April 12, a special division bench of the Calcutta High Court, while ordering the Central forces deployment at Murshidabad, observed that the measures adopted by the West Bengal government to control communal unrest in the district, which broke out on April 8, were not adequate.

The division bench also observed that had the CAPF deployment been earlier, the situation would not have been so “grave” and “volatile”.

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