BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday joined the chorus of protest from different quarters against the draft heritage bye-laws for Ananta Basudev and Brahmeswar temples and urged the Centre for their immediate withdrawal. Naveen also expressed displeasure on the Centre for not taking the state into confidence on such sensitive matters.
Though the Centre had on February 8 dropped the notification of the draft bye-laws for Puri Jagannath temple following massive political and public outcries, it retained the bye-laws for the Ananta Basudev and Brahmeswar shrines in Bhubaneswar. The three draft bye-laws were notified by the national monuments authority (NMA) on January 18 under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act (AMASR), 2010. The NMA invited objections and suggestions on the proposed bye-laws till February 18.
"Central Govt should immediately withdraw the National Monuments Authority draft Bylaws on Ananta Basudev & Brahmeswar Temple of #EkamraKshetra. It would have been appropriate for the Central agencies to take the state into confidence on sensitive religious issues,” Naveen tweeted.
The chief minister also urged all MPs from the state to press for the withdrawal of the draft bye-laws for Ananta Basudev and Brahmeswar shrines. “I appeal to all the MPs from Odisha to take up this sensitive matter with the Union Government & union culture minister Prahlad Singh Patel, as it involves the sentiments of lakhs of devotees of Odisha, lives and livelihood of sebayats, linked to the smooth conduct of Nitis of Lord Lingaraj,” Naveen tweeted.
Minutes after Naveen’s voice of discontent on Twitter, a number of people, including the servitors of the Lingaraj temple and its subsidiary shrines staged a demonstration and lighted diyas outside the 11thcentury temple, demanding withdrawal of the bye-laws.
The government is jittery as any Central regulation would jeopardize its ongoing development work around the Lingaraj temple under the ambitious Ekamra Kshetra project. The bylaws proposed to prohibit construction within a 100-metre radius of the temples and restrict construction, re-construction, repair and renovation activities to a radius of 300 metres. Lingaraj temple is located within 300 metre radius of Anata Basudev temple. If the draft bylaws for Brahmeswar and Ananta Basudev temples are finalized, the state government may have to seek the NMA’s permission for carrying out the ongoing development work around Lingaraj temple.
Reacting to Naveen’s displeasure on Centre on the religious issue, union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said protection of monuments of national, historical and cultural importance is a collective responsibility of everyone.
“It seems the chief minister is inadequately briefed on the applicability of the draft bylaws promulgated by NMA on the Ananta Basudev and Brahmeswar temples. The chief minister should direct the state chief secretary to write a letter to the secretary of the union ministry of culture for examining point by point provisions of the draft bylaws and for listing out objections of the state government in the draft published by NMA,” Pradhan posted on his official Twitter and Facebook handles.
“I appreciate the deep concern of the CM regarding protecting the rich heritage of Odisha and respecting the sentiments of devotees, sevayats and the people of #EkamraKshetra of Bhubaneswar, “ Pradhan said.
He said the NMA was constituted to provide better policy and legal framework to further improve upon preservation of monuments of immense cultural and historical importance.
“I assure the CM that the prime minister Narendra Modi’s government will leave no stone unturned in honouring and respecting the culture, pride & sentiments of Odisha and its people. We are committed to address through dialogue all objections of the state government regarding these draft bye-laws,” Pradhan said.