Priests gherao residences of two ministers in Dehradun
Govt says a decision on scrapping the Act will be taken by November 30
DEHRADUN: Amid the ongoing agitation against the state government demanding abolishment of the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, agitating priests associated with Char Dham on Tuesday gheraoed official residences of cabinet ministers in Dehradun.
The priests under the umbrella body - Char Dham Haq-Haqooqdhari Teerth Purohit Mahapanchayat - gheraoed official residences of agriculture minister Subodh Uniyal and water resources minister Bishan Singh Chuphal. During the protest, they held a sit in outside the residences of ministers and raised slogans against the BJP-led state government.
Krishna Kant Kothiyal, president of the body, said, “We had decided to gherao the residences of the ministers to send them a message that we are not going back off till the government abolishes the Act which is complete against the age-old traditions of the temples and our rights.”
“We had peacefully gheraoed the residence of the ministers on the issue but didn’t give any memorandum to them. One of the two ministers, Uniyal came out to meet us and ensured that the government will take a decision on the issue by November 30 as earlier announced by CM Pushkar Singh Dhami,” said Kothiyal.
The Act, which was passed by the present BJP government under former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat two years ago, had led to large scale protests by the priests associated with the Char Dham which comprises the shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
The agitating priests accuse the state government of snatching away their traditional rights associated with the shrines which the government has denied on several occasions.
Dhami, on July 21, formed a high-power committee to review the Act and submit a report to the government so as to enable it to take a decision on it. He had earlier on November 2, assured the priests that the government will take a decision by November 30 after receiving the report from the committee.
Meanwhile, Kothiyal also informed that the agitating priests will observe black day on November 27 as it was the same day in 2019, when the government had approved the proposal for the Act in its cabinet meeting.
“On that day, we will hold a rally in Dehradun reiterating the demand for its abolishment. We will wait till November 30 as per the CM’s assurance and if no decision is taken then we will intensify our protests after that against the government,” said Kothiyal.
Earlier during the protest, senior Congress leader Pritam Singh met the agitating priests and assured his party’s support to them.
“The Congress is completely against the Act which goes against the traditions of the Char Dham shrines. The government wants to control them just for their monetary interests. We will not accept that. We have already announced that if voted to power, we will repeal as soon as possible,” said Singh.
Cabinet minister Uniyal, who is also the spokesperson of state government, said, “The government has already said that a decision will be taken on it by November 30 to which it sticking. It will not take any decision which is against the priests.”