A Shiva temple in the Alampur village of Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh was attacked on the evening of June 5. The Shivling of the temple was found uprooted and desecrated outside the temple leading to a tense situation in the village.
Last night (5-6 Jun), a Temple was attacked and desecrated in Mu*lim majority village of Alampur, Saharanpur, UP. Even sacred Shivling was uprooted. Hindus of village r scared as their future is uncertain. @myogiadityanath @CMOfficeUP
— Upword (@upword_) June 6, 2021
Village falls under Mirjapur police station.
After the images and posts of the desecrated temple went viral on social media, the OpIndia team contacted the locals and the police of the village to know more about the incident.
As per a local, the temple which is around 40-50 years old came under attack on Saturday. The lock of the temple was found broken with the Shivling uprooted from its original place. The local also informed that the situation was tensed after the villagers found the idol vandalized. However, with the arrival of the police, the situation was brought under control.
SO Amardeep Lal of Mirzapur police station who was at the site of the incident when contacted confirmed to OpIndia that the Hindu temple was found attacked. With the priest, village head and locals present at the location, SO Lal assured that efforts are already being made to resurrect the idol.
Temples under attack in Andhra Pradesh
Early this year we had reported on how a series of temple vandalism incidents across Andhra Pradesh had left Hindus all over the country horrified and shaken.
A 400-year old mūrti of Sri Rāma at Ramathirtha, Vizianagaram District, AP on the 29th of December 2020 was found decapitated. The head of Sri Rāma was found after being thrown in the temple tank.
Prior to that a 12th century Nandi was found broken to pieces at a Śiva temple in Chittur district; two old Hindu temples in Suryaraopeta, East Godavari district was illegally demolished by neighbouring Church’s Pastor, who also stole the antique idols housed within, and 23 idols of small shrines in Pithapuram, East Godavari district was brutally vandalized.
In 2020, about 228 cases of attacks on temples were registered in Andhra Pradesh, 305 cases in 2019, 267 in 2018, 318 in 2017, 332 in 2016 and 290 in 2015.
The unprovoked, systematic attacks on Hindu temples have increased both in magnitude and seriousness over the past few years.