Delhi min welcomes SC order on Ravidas temple, asks BJP to apologise to Dalits

Delhi minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to grant 400 square metres of land to reconstruct a Ravidas temple in the Tughlaqabad area and asked the BJP to apologise for hurting the sentiments of 40 crore followers of the Saint.

The social welfare minister and AAP MLA said the temple would have never been demolished if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cared for Dalits.

"The BJP government knew that the land on which the temple stood belonged to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) which comes under the Centre. But because the government doesn't care for Dalits, it didn't stop authorities from demolishing it," he alleged.

The BJP should apologise for hurting the sentiments of the followers of Saint Ravidas and misleading them, he said.

The Guru Ravidas temple in the Tughlaqabad forest area was demolished by the DDA on the orders of the apex court on August 10.

The Supreme Court on Monday accepted the Centre's revised offer of 400 square metre land at the site for re-construction of the temple.

A bench of justices Arun Mishra and S Ravindra Bhat was on Monday told by Attorney General K K Venugopal that the Centre has revised its offer from 200 sq mt area for the temple to 400 sq mt keeping in view the faith and sentiments of the devotees.

The demolition had led to massive outcry and protests in the national capital and other parts of the country.