Hyderabad: Strongly opposing Telangana government’s proposal to set up solar power plants on endowment lands, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has alleged that it was a ploy to usurp temple lands under the guise of renewable energy initiatives.
VHP demanded the state government to withdraw the solar plant proposal, release a white paper on the status of temple properties, and to put the report of the Justice A Venkatarami Reddy Commission in public domain.
VHP stated that it will launch a statewide protest if the government failed to meet its demands.
Claiming that the state government was merely a custodian of temple lands and not its owner, VHP demanded the Congress government to immediately withdraw the green energy proposal, which it claimed, was the latest attempt to privatise the temple properties.
VHP accused the government of using the 1987 Act to convert temple properties into government assets, and of subsequently selling vast tracts of land to private individuals.
Highlighting the situation of temple lands in Telangana with approximately 2.5 lakh acres
belonging to 9608 temples, VHP alleged numerous instances of temple lands encroachment, including in prime locations like Abids and Banjara Hills.
Interestingly, there was one instance during the BRS government when the Abhayanjaneya Swamy temple in Film Nagar was demolished by a real estate developer in November 2021.
The VHP had given a similar warning back then, even going to the extent of declaring ‘Kar Seva’ if the real estate developer, who demolished the temple, failed to rebuild the temple in its original location. However, their warnings vanished in the thin air in no time for reasons better known to the Hindutva organisation’s leaders. The Hanuman temple was demolished to facilitate real estate development there.
The VHP is now once again calling upon the entire Hindu community to join the movement to protect temple properties and free them from the government’s control.
