Lucknow: In a blatant act of vandalism, activists of Hindu organizations razed public toilets to the ground adjacent to an ancient temple in Saharanpur district on Wednesday after videos of people urinating on the temple wall went viral.
On Sunday, activists of Hindu outfits Bajrang Dal and All-India Hindu Mahasabha had given a two-day ultimatum to the Nagar Nigam for the removal of the public toilets at UPSRTC Bus station, adjacent to boundary wall of an ancient temple after videos of people urinating on temple wall went viral on social media.
Agitated over Nagar Nigam not paying any heed to their warning, about two dozen slogan-shouting Bajrang Dal and Mahasabha activists reached the Bus Station on Wednesday afternoon and razed the ladies and gents toilets to the ground.
“Toilets were constructed adjacent to the wall of an ancient temple. Many videos of people urinating on the temple wall are on social media. We had asked Nagar Nigam to remove these toilets as they were hurting our religious sentiments. When they did not pay any attention we brought down the toilets on our own,” said Rishi Kamboj, an activist.
Police was informed about their act of destroying government property in time but, as usual, it reached after they executed their act of vandalism, apparently due to involvement of members of the saffron brigade.
Nagar Nigam officials, however, belied their claims. “Toilets were there for the past 40 years at the Bus station. They were repaired recently. The boundary wall of the temple is about three feet away from the toilets. No one objected all these years,” rued Vimla, Nigam Supervisor of the area.
The police are waiting for a complaint from Nagar Nigam officials to register a case. “We have identified them and are awaiting complaint from the civic authorities to initiate a probe and action. No one is allowed to take law and order into their acts. We have obtained videos of their act and action will be initiated after the complaint,” said Vineet Bhatnagar, SP City, Saharanpur.
