Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The residents of Begampura and Pahadsingpura opposed the decision to remove temples from the campus of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu).
The Bamu campus has 12 temples. Some of them are 300-years-old. Land acquisition for the university took place between 1956 and 1958, at that time the temples already existed. They were not built on encroached land.
As per public interest litigation filed in the Aurangabad Bench of Bombay, the Begampura police have issued notices to remove the encroachments of 12 religious places on university land.
Addressing a press conference at the Vishveshwar Mahadev Temple in the university on Monday afternoon, the residents of Begampura and Pahadsingpura said that if any step is taken to demolish the temples, they would resist it at any cost.
Former corporator Vinayak Pande, Sachin Khaire, Dnyaneshwar Jadhav, former member of the university management council Dr Fulchand Salampure and others were present.
“There is an attempt to declare temples as encroachments and demolish them. The temples have historical significance and are considered family deities by many residents in the area. When land was acquired for the university, the temples were already there. The temple of Sati Mata is several centuries old, having existed long before the practice of Sati was abolished. It was mentioned that if the construction stones of this temple are examined by experts, the period of their creation will also be revealed,” they said.
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Legal fight to be continued
“We will continue the fight to save the historical temples in the university through legal ways. Land for temples has been encroached upon. We demand that experts should examine the temples' origins. If there is still an attempt to demolish the temples. We will take to the streets as protest,” they added.