On Saturday, the Gujarat administration demolished Illegal religious structures, such as a mosque, graveyard, and a dargah near the hallowed Somnath Temple. According to the media reports, ’36 JCBs, 70 tractors, 5 Hitachi machines, 10 dumpers and 1,400 policemen were deployed by the Gujarat administration as a part of the demolition operation’.
The operation was following the illegal encroachments and unlawfully constructed religious structures which had cropped up in Prabhas Patan in Gir Somnath district close to Somnath Mandir. A group of members from the minority community gathered to witness the spectacle as JCBs and machines rolled to raze down illegal structures. At least, 70 people were arrested over the protests and movements in restricted areas while the operation was conducted in peace and harmony.
District collector, IG, three SPs, six DySPs, and fifty police inspectors and sub-inspectors were present at the spot. According to the video shared on the social media platforms, bulldozers were used to demolish mosques, graveyards, and dargahs in Prabhas Patan Veraval in Somnath.
The demolition started early in the morning, around 4 am. Construction of illegal religious structures on government lands is a common site in Gujarat, mostly in coastal regions such as Somnath, which had once been an object of Islamist perversity, repeatedly raided by Mahmud of Ghazni.
Ghazni broke the presiding deity’s idol into four pieces to insult Hindus but also sent them to different places; one he took with him to Ghazni (in Afghanistan) where it was deposited at the threshold of the Jama Masjid of Ghazni and the other piece at the court door of his palace. The remaining two fragments were sent to Mecca and Medina to be buried inside the mosques there.
The legendary loot of the Somnath temple brought Islamic marauders to its shores as well, with other places of religious import for Hindus, Jains, and other communities, like Dwarka, Girnar, etc. These temples, also brought settlers from places far and wide. These operations have targeted not only encroachments but also land grabbing and activities such as drug trafficking, smuggling, and other threats to the national security.
Comments