The ‘Mazar’, located inside a prominent residential school in Dehradun, was demolished following strong protests from right-wing Hindu organisations. These organizations were protesting against the presence of a temple within the walls of an educational institution. The structure was housed within the prestigious ‘The Doon School’, whose alumni include many dignitaries and political leaders such as late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, his son Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, noted author Amitabh Shah included. Ghosh and Vikram Seth included.
Video viral on social media
‘Doon School’ is one of the most prestigious private residential schools for boys dating back to the British Raj. In a video that has gone viral on social media, 4-5 people are seen breaking a grave in the school premises with a hammer. Dehradun District Magistrate Savin Bansal said on Friday that the incident took place two days ago. He said, “We did not give any order to demolish it. However, we sent a team including a sub-collector to the spot to verify the facts regarding the temple and ensure that law and order is maintained.
I welcome demolition of Samadhi – Swami Darshan Bharti
Bansal also said that he has sought a report on the episode from his team. However, right-wing Hindu leader Swami Darshan Bharti said he recently met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and officials and urged them to demolish the temple inside the prestigious school. “Whoever did this, I welcome the demolition of the mausoleum,” said Bharti, who runs an organization called ‘Uttarakhand Raksha Abhiyan’. Why should there be a grave inside a school and that too inside ‘The Doon School’ which is famous all over the country. This shows the extent to which land jihad has reached within the state during the tenure of previous governments.
The school authorities repaired the grave
According to sources, the tomb was old and the school authorities had recently repaired it. The Dhami government of the state launched a vigorous campaign against illegal encroachment of government land in the name of Land Jihad or Mazar from 2022, under which 5000 acres of government land has been freed from encroachment so far. It is being said that the Doon School portion, where the mausoleum was built, was once the property of the Uttarakhand Waqf Board.
An official of the Waqf Board, requesting anonymity, said, “As per our records, we owned 57 acres of land in the area but currently nothing is known about the status of Doon School.” When contacted, Uttarakhand Waqf Board Chairman Shadab Shams said he was aware of the demolition of the tomb located inside Doon School. When asked if the land belonged to the Wakf Board, he said it would be known only after a detailed investigation by the administration. (with language inputs)
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