STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Demanding a thorough probe into the two incidents of temple desecration in Jammu, various religious, political and social organisations have appealed to the people to maintain calm and help identify the culprits.
“There is a deep-rooted conspiracy to disturb peace in Jammu region by desecrating the temples. The authorities must identify the real culprits and punish them accordingly,” former State President of VHP, Leela Karan Sharma said.
He said the two “sacrilegious” incidents within a period of 36 hours cannot be a coincidence, as he asked the authorities to expose the greater conspiracy aimed at disturbing peace in Jammu region.
He said the recent incident of desecration of a temple in Nanak Nagar area allegedly by an inebriated person seems to be part of a well-knit conspiracy.
“It should be probed who gave drugs to that man and asked him to go and vandalise the temple,” Sharma said.
Various Sikh organisations have also come forward and condemned the recent incidents of desecration of temples in Jammu.
“Jammu is a City of Temples and people of all faiths have been co-existing here for centuries. The people who hurt the sentiments of others do not represent any religion. “If there is a deep-rooted conspiracy to destabilise peace in the region, government must expose them,” president of Guru Manyo Granth Society, Jasdeep Singh said. President of Shiv Sena and Dogra Front, Ashok Gupta said that Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs have been living peacefully in Jammu and there was a conspiracy to destabilise peace in the region.
“There are reports that the man who vandalised the temple in Nanak Nagar called somebody and said that he has done his job. We want the authorities to find out who that man was who had ordered this man to carry out the sacrilegious act,” Gupta said. Condemning the two incidents, Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) Harsh Dev Singh demanded that the government conduct a thorough probe and punish the culprits.
“We must maintain peace and harmony in the region as there are some forces which are hell-bent to disturb peace here. We must unite to foil their nefarious designs but also force the authorities to identify the real culprits and bring them to book,” he said.
Those behind desecration won’t be let off: Govt
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Friday said a probe into two incidents of alleged desecration of temples in Jammu is on to ascertain if they were part of a conspiracy to disturb the “peaceful and conducive” atmosphere in the State. “Investigation is on in both the incidents. Action has been taken in yesterday’s incident and the government is serious (about the matter). The members have expressed concern to ascertain what is behind these incidents.
“The government is looking into the incidents and will go into their depth to see if any conspiracy is there to disturb the conducive atmosphere,” State Minister for Law Abdul Haq Khan told the Legislative Council here.
The minister made the statement after BJP, Congress and PDP legislators from Jammu demanded the government to make one on the two incidents.
Khan said the government’s intention is clear and it would not let off those responsible for the incidents. “I want to assure this House we will not let off anyone.
We will not let anyone vitiate the conducive atmosphere, in which the tourism has flourished this year, be it in Jammu or Ladakh or Kashmir,” he said. As soon as the House assembled, BJP MLC Vibodh Gupta raised the issue of alleged desecration of another temple in Jammu on Thursday, the issue is related to the sentiments of the people. “This matter is not just political but our sentiments are involved as well. Our sentiments have been hurt. It seems there is a conspiracy. We will not tolerate it,” Gupta said. Gupta’s party colleague Ramesh Arora demanded a probe into the incidents, saying “it seems some agency or politician is behind them”.
The BJP legislators also sought transfer of police officers of the areas where the incidents took place.
“If we find any officer is involved in this at any level, we will not spare him,” the minister said.
