Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Dec 8: Assistant commissioner and nodal officer for Mangalore and Moodbidri taluks for the implementation of the court order to evict places of worship that have illegally cropped up in public places, Prabhulinga Kavalikatti, clarified that the operation to remove such structures would be taken up only after collecting opinions from the religious leaders and the general public.

He was speaking after presiding over a meeting organized in the office of the subdivisional officer here on Tuesday December 7. He noted that removal of temples, mosques, churches etc., that have been built on, or are encroaching the government land, is a sensitive issue. “In view of this, the concerned will be consulted before the operation is taken up,” he explained.

Representative of Mangalore Bishop, Fr William Menezes,  K S Mohammed Masood, president of Muslim Central Committee, and its vice president, Kodijal Ibrahim, and Vishwa Hindu Parishat leader, Prof M B Puranik, spoke at the meeting. They said that they are committed to convince the people of their respective communities of the need to remove places of worship, which are obstructing smooth movement of vehicles or other public activities. They also requested the assistant commissioner to provide a list of religious structures which pose grave problems for the general public.

The assistant commissioner said that the list is quite long, as it also consists of donation boxes, arches, platform built around holy fig trees etc. He said that notices have already been served on the concerned, and that the onus of providing justification and clarification in reply to these notices lies on the concerned. The leaders said that they are not opposed to the clearance operation in respect of those structures which pose lot of problems, but expressed their opposition for the eviction operation in respect of other structures.