Govt Orders for Demarcation of Temple Land in J&K, Removal of Encroachments

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered for removal of encroachments from temple land across the union territory. The J&K Chief Secretary has issued directions for revival and restoration of temples across the UT.

According to sources, the UT govt has directed all the 20 Deputy Commissioners to ensure demarcation of temples land and removal of encroachments in their respective jurisdiction. It is learnt that detailed status of all the historic temples and action taken against the encroachments will be updated on website of the Department of Culture..

The latest development comes after order by a division bench of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh which heard a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by RTI activist Gautam Anand.

While speaking to Republic, activist Gautam Anand expresses joy over the court order. In an exclusive converastion with Republic, Anand said, "This fight is on for 10 years and today it is day of joy. Every temple has a story from Ramayana and Mahabharta. It is victory for Sanatan Dharma. It took me months to get single papers to develop synopsis; it was impossible for me to go ahead without papers."

"I have forwarded act to President and also to Central Government. Everyone needs to be mentioned online in a website and be in public domain. Similar directions should be implemented at Central level across country. This has been possible only post Abrogation of Article 370, otherwise file wasn't being moved. This never came in limelight ever before," he added.