Group demands to open 'temple' closed for 70 yrs in Varanasi

Varanasi: After a group demanded the reopening of a temple, claimed to be two hundred years old, in a Muslim-dominated area in Madanpura here in Uttar Pradesh, the district administration started gathering details of the same. The structure in question has been locked for 70 years, and the issue appeared in the public sphere after a photograph of its locked gate appeared on social media, The Indian Express reported.

Following the administration’s move, police security has been deployed in the area to ensure law and order. The deployment is even after the Muslim population in the area put no objection to opening the temple or continuance of prayers there, The Times of India reported.

After the appearance of the photo, the Sanatan Raksha Dal visited the location of the structure and demanded the administration for the reopening of the same for prayers.

Varanasi Deputy Commissioner of Police Gaurav Banswal informed that the district administration had been informed about the temple, and they are reviewing records to make a decision. Banswal said all legal procedures will be followed before arriving at any conclusion.

A local resident and cloth merchant, Yasir Jamal, told The Indian Express that the structure had been locked for a long time since no one visited it for prayers. However, the state president of Sanatan Raksha Dal, Ajay Sharma, informed us that his organization had requested that the district administration and public representatives grant permission to open it. He added that it urged the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, to intervene in the issue.

Sharma said it would only become clear whether there were statues of deities inside after it was opened.

It was only last week that the Sambhal district administration reopened a structure that was claimed to be an ancient temple, which was shut in 1978