Demolition of temple:AAP to stage stir at Jantar Mantar

AAP MLAs will hold a protest at Jantar Mantar here on Wednesday against the DDA allegedly demolishing a temple in the Tughlakabad area, Delhi Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said on Tuesday.

He added that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers from Haryana and Punjab will also participate in the protest.

Gautam said the Centre should take a decision in the matter at the earliest.

He also alleged that the BJP-led central government had stopped the entry of passenger trains into Delhi from Haryana and Punjab in order to prevent people from coming to the national capital to lodge their protest against the demolition.

"The Constitution gives us the right to protest peacefully, but this government is trying to suppress our voice. It is still following the methods of the British by trying to suppress our voice," Gautam told reporters.

He said all the AAP MLAs will take part in the protest and also raise the issue in the Delhi Assembly session starting Thursday.

The demolition of the Guru Ravidas temple in a forest area in Tughlakabad here led to a huge controversy, with the AAP seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in ensuring that the land is given back to the Ravidas community to rebuild the place of worship.

Gautam had earlier alleged that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had demolished the temple in the presence of police on August 10 and the statue was "taken away".

The DDA, however, did not use the word temple and said the "structure was removed as per the orders of the Supreme Court".