DB grants four weeks’ time to file objection in PIL regarding protection of ancient temples in J&K

STATE TIMES NEWS

JAMMU: In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) regarding steps taken by the Govt., renovation, reconstruction, protection of the ancient Hindu temples in the UT of J&K, a Division Bench of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Comprising Chief Justice N Kotishwar Singh and Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi granted four weeks time to Union of India and UT of Jammu & Kashmir for filing objections.
In the PIL, the petitioner submits that Hindu religion in our country is considered to be the oldest religion as per the Hindu Scripts, Vedas and other religious ancient scriptures. Thousands of Hindu temples were built by the ancient kings and rulers in the past in our country. Many historical temples of the Hindu deities were built hundreds and thousands years ago in our country and were being well taken care of by the ancient Rulers including Rajas and Maharajas of that time. It is well known fact that India being a rich country in every field, was invaded many times by the outsiders like Afghans, Turkishs, Britishers from 14th century to 19th Century and all the religious institutions like ancient temples, mosques, Gurudwaras in our country were being looted and destroyed from time to time by those invaders illegally. During that era many temples were damaged and after the independence, those temples were renovated reconstructed and beautified by the agencies, State Government and Central Government as well. He also submitted that the UT of J&K was also subject to same devastation, invasion and destruction by the outsiders and many ancient temples mosque and Gurudwaras were being destroyed or dismantled during that era. After the independence, some of the temples were again built, renovated and repaired but many temples in the UT of J&K remained unrepaired and at present those ancient temples are in dilapidated condition. Admittedly the erstwhile state of J&K continuously remained in militancy for more than a decade in the nineties and during that era, many temples which were already in dilapidated condition were mostly destroyed and their land has been illegally encroached upon and the other temple which were renovated and repaired were also destroyed. The petitioner by way of representations and RTIs also asked the authorities to provide information about the temples which were destroyed or damaged due to militancy attacks or by abandonment or by any other mean. The respondents in their reply to the RTI filed by the petitioner also gave the details of all the temples which were damaged, destroyed, partially damaged good condition.
The petition filed the present Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for a direction to the respondents to take appropriate recourse to protect, rebuild. renovate the ancient temples of the UT of J&K and retrieve the land of the temples encroached by the Mafia and other property Dealers. That the main objective of the petitioner in filing the present Public Interest Litigation is to protect and preserve the ancient and old temples which are existing in the UT of J&K and to also rebuild/reconstruct the damaged religious Hindu temples which are currently in a dilapidated condition. The land mafia and people with vested interest are encroaching the land of the temples and no authority and statutory body is existing at present after the coming into force of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019.