RAMGARH: The tension in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district following demolition of a temple on Kankebar highway by the district administration eased after a Muslim religious body on Sunday agreed to remove the mosque to facilitate the stalled four-lane project.
Local Congress leader Sahjada Anwar along with members of the State Minority Council attended the meeting convened by SDO Dileshwar Mahato. Anwar said Anjuman Islahul Committee, a top religious body in Ramgarh, has decided to remove the mosque from NH-33 “to maintain peace and harmony in the town”.
He said the religious group would not accept any financial assistance for construction of new mosque but want the administration to give them land for it. Anwar alleged that some persons tried to create communal rift in the locality.
Welcoming the move, Murramkala mukhiya Archana Mahto said, “We will wait for Anjuman Islahul to remove the mosque and then take decision on removing the Kali temple.”
The mukhiya said the Hindus in the locality were not against mosques “and all places of worship should be treated equally by the government and the administration”.
“But what the administration here did was not an impartial move and this forced them (Hindu religious group) to rebuild the temple removed by administration,” he said.
A Hindu religious group and some local political workers were up in arms against the administration after the latter razed the temple on NH-33 to facilitate expansion of the highway. On January 20, the religious group started building a temple to protest against the district administration.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s internationl working president Praveen Togadia had visited site on January 20 and announced that the temple would not be removed from the highway till the mosque was removed.
Members of a local maath met the Muslim religious group on Saturday and it was decided that the Muslims would remove the mosque. The Ramgarh DC will convene another meeting of the religious groups to finally resolve the matter.