India’s Supreme Court will take up the case of demolition of all Mutts within a radius of 75 metres of the Jagannath Puri Temple today. Under pressure from Sikh activists worldwide, the Naveen Patnaik government of the Indian state of Odisha has temporarily halted the demolition drive which was to demolish the Mangu Mutt and Punjabi Mutt relating to the visit of Guru Nanak Sahib, though without giving an official word about their intentions. The DSGMC delegation met the Deputy Commissioner and was able to get verbal assurances only while the Orissa Sikh Pratinidhi Board Sikh leadership indulges into double-talk and squabbles about the historicity of the places.

THANKS to the timely intervention of advocate-activist Sukhvinder Kaur and historian Anil Dhir, the uproar by Sikh Twitterati across the globe, the push provided by the tweet of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, the Puri administration has stalled the demolishing since the last four days.

The Indian Supreme Court will take up a Public Interest petition today filed by Inter-Continental Association of Lawyers through its chairman Debasis Misra, seeking the quashing of the Odisha government order dated 16 August for the demolition of all structures within 75 meters of the Jagannath Puri Temple.

Though this petition was not specifically for the shrines related to Guru Nanak, all Mutts that the Odisha government proposes to demolish structures ‘for providing facilities to pilgrims’, the decision in this matter is likely to impact the Mangu Mutt and Punjabi Mutt which are so far intact.

Speaking exclusively to The World Sikh News, Sukhvinder Kaur said, “It seems that the importance of the Mutts and its history was not even known to the administration. Apparently, only after a score of media reports and social media intervention, the relevance of the Mutts came to be known to them.”

These Mutts are the #Heritage of our #Nation which carry the faith of different religions practiced by our fellow #Indians in #India & abroad. This faith in different religions makes our country a truly secular #India We should strive to respect & save these #Heritage structures. pic.twitter.com/M4xrPwRYpm

— Dillip Mohanty (@dillipodisha) September 16, 2019

Senior BJP leader Dillip Mohanty has extensively tweeted to the Odisha government urging immediate stoppage of the demolition campaign.

Reliable sources in Puri have informed WSN that the Puri Collector Balwant Singh Rathore told the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee delegation that “the administration is now considering to preserve four rooms of the Mutt, but the remaining portion of the shrine will be demolished. The shrine where the images of Lord Jagannath and Shri Chand Ji, along with the Mahant’s Gadi, his personal room and the Rosaghara (Kitchen) will be allowed to remain.”

Clearly, these are time-wasting tactics. WSN fears that the Odisha government which has so far not put out an official word on the subject is probably banking on the judiciary taking a decision which will enable them to complete the demolition.

Shockingly for the Sikhs, the Odisha Sikh Pratinidhi Board has issued a facebook post downplaying the Mangu Mutt and its role. They said that the Mutt holds no relevance to the Sikh faith.

Sukhvinder Kaur speaking to WSN said, “It is sad, that while the administration has taken cognizance of the importance of the Mutt, the Pratinidhi Board is in a denial mode.”

Will the Naveen Patnaik government respect Sikh sentiments?