Hearing a public interest petition on Jagannath Puri Temple arcade demolitions, the division bench of Justices Shri Arun Mishra, M. R. Shah and B. R. Gavai of the Supreme Court of India granted two weeks to the Amicus Ranjit Kumar to file his report of the status about demolitions in Puri, asked the government of Odisha to take care of all stakeholders and deferred the matter to 3 October 2019.  

HEARING the plea (WP (C) No. 649/2018) for seeking time, Justice Arun Mishra asked the Advocate General of Odisha, Mr Ashok Parija to look into the grievances of all the stakeholders before acquiring land from them. Justice Mishra also directed that the process must be carried out only in accordance with the law, no matter how noble the intentions of the State Government of Odisha may be.

The interveners Inter-Continental Association of Lawyers through its chairman Debasis Misra were represented by senior Counsel Shri R. Venkataramani and Shri Sai Deepak of the Indic Collective. Shri Suvi Dutt is the advocate on record for some of the Mahants.

In a statement issued in Puri, historian and conservation activist Anil Dhir has pointed out that “Earlier on, the Amicus Curiae had supposedly given a clean chit to the demolitions during his last visit to Puri. His press statement was used by the state and district administration as an approval of the Supreme Court, while the fact is that the Amicus has not even submitted his report.”

Thought the Supreme Court of India has been laggard in ordering a stay on the demolitions and has literally presided over destruction of Hindu legacy and culture of the region, it is a little comforting that it has now directed the government to act within the ambit of law and with due consent of all stakeholders.

Even the Shankaracharya had gone on record to say that he had protested before the Amicus.  The Shankaracharya, the Mahants and many other affected persons had petitioned that they were not consulted.

However, Anil Dhir has pointed out that, “what conspired between the Gajapati and the Amicus is not known, as it was a closed-door affair.”

With the prompt appeal of historian Anil Dhir and lawyer-activist Sukhvinder Kaur to the Odisha Chief Minister, the Sikh world has jumped into the agitation protesting the proposed demolition of Mangu Mutt and the Punjabi Mutt and perhaps of the Bauli Sahib as well. The Chief Minister of Punjab tweeted and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee met the Puri Collector Balwant Singh Rathore yesterday and registered the concerns of the Sikh community.

It is shocking to note that many other Hindu religious and historical buildings have been wantonly destroyed in the name of beautification.  The destruction of the Emar Mutt, Langudi Mutt and the Bada Akhada Mutt were conducted in a manner flouting many of the existing laws of the land besides international laws. India is a signatory of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, UNESCO and International Council of Museums.

For more than a week, the State Government of Odisha has been bulldozing its way through the priceless heritage that surrounds the Jagannath Temple at Puri. All in the name of development. cc:@indiccollective pic.twitter.com/Jet9K3YpRr

— Upword (@upword_) September 3, 2019

The manner in which the 900-year-old Emar Mutt, the 500-year-old Bada Akhada Mutt and the Langudi Mutt have surprised and disturbed many heritage lovers and experts.

The Convener of INTACH’s Odisha Chapter, Amiya Bhusan Tripathy has also submitted a memorandum urging conserving and restoring the old Mutts.

Thought the Supreme Court of India has been laggard in ordering a stay on the demolitions and has literally presided over the destruction of Hindu legacy and culture of the region, it is a little comforting that it has now directed the government to act within the ambit of law and with due consent of all stakeholders.

WSN has many unanswered questions:

• Why has the Supreme Court not granted a stay and halted all demolitions?
• What is preventing the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to issue a statement on the matter?
• Are there vested building and land mafia interests behind the whole Odisha government game of beautification and expansion?
• Who told Odisha Member Parliament Pinaki Misra that the Amritsar model of development is the correct model to follow?
• Why has the government of Odisha not informed the Shankaracharya before the proposal for demolition was taken up?
• Will the DSGMC become an intervenor in this petition or file another writ so that the Sikh heritage of Puri is protected and preserved?
• Why is the Orissa Sikh Pratinidhi Board silent?