Hindu Sikh sants protest demolition of shrines

Chandigarh, June 18 (UNI) Some Sikh and Hindu sants today joined hands to protest against the acquisition of land of some religious shrines in the city by the UT administration and threatened to launch a stir if it did not stop the process soon.

An ''all-party'' meeting was convened by the Shiromani Sant Khalsa International Foundation at the Gurdwara Gursagar Sahib where the various leaders alleged that the Chandigarh administration was adopting ''undemocratic ways and and black laws'' to acquire land/structures of various religious places in the city.

The UT administration had notified certain areas in the city under the forest land and decided to demolish all buildings falling in these areas including religious shrines like temples and gudrwaras. Gurdwara Gursagar also happens to fall in one such area.

Among those who addressed the meeting were Shiromani Sant Khalsa International Foundation president Inderpal Singh, Sant Baba Pritpal Singh, Akhil Bhartiya Ram Raj Parishad general secretary Acharya Battu Prasad Sharma of Varanasi and Hathyogi Mahant Kailash Nath.

These leaders claimed that their followers were ready to ''make any sacrifice'' to protect various shrines in Chandigarh and elsewhere in the country.

Justice Ajit Singh Bains (Retd) also attended the meeting and said the administration had no right to get evicted or demolish any religious shrines anywhere in the country.

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