Ravidas Temple Demolition: AAP Protest At Jantar Mantar, To Raise Issue In Assembly During Monsoon Session

Delhi Cabinet minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said all AAP MLAs in Delhi will join the protest along with the party volunteers from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.

(Image: PTI)

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will protest at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday against Ravidas Temple demolition and will also raise the issue in the Monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly, the party leaders said on Tuesday. Delhi Cabinet minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said all AAP MLAs in Delhi will join the protest along with the party volunteers from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. "We will also demand to establish the temple in the same place", said Gautam. "Despite I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on August 12 and two days of protests at the BJP headquarters, the Central government has not taken any proactive measure to solve the issue of the demolition of the Saint Ravidas Temple," Gautam said. Instead, he added, the BJP government is trying to smother the voice of Dalits. "The Union Government resorted to repressive steps like stopping buses and nearly 15 passenger trains from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, in order to prevent people from joining the protest." Gautam said AAP MLAs will raise this issue in the monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly on Thursday. He assured that the protest planned for Wednesday will be a peaceful one, but necessitated by the gravity of injustice done to the Dalits in India. He alleged that the Union government breached the trust of Dalits and failed to take everyone on board as it always claims. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had, on August 10, demolished the Guru Ravidas temple in Delhi's Tughlaqabad under the order of the Supreme Court.