Not favouring any religion, says Guj pilgrimage board to HC

The Pavitra Yatradham Vikas Board of the state government has told the Gujarat High Court that it is not involved in promoting and developing pilgrimage sites of a particular religion as alleged in a Public Interest Litigation filed last year.

In its affidavit submitted on Friday, before the division bench of acting Chief Justice A S Dave and Justice Biren Vaishnav, the board said the PIL was meant for publicity and needs to be dismissed as it lacks merit.

The bench has asked the petitioner to file reply by July 12.

The board told the court that its main objective was to provide "basic facilities and amenities to all the important pilgrimage centres, irrespective of any faith", and "not to promote or develop pilgrimage sites of any specific religion as canvassed by the petitioner in the PIL".

These basic facilities include transportation, subsidies, water, electricity and other facilities for tourists, it said.

"The petition deserves to be dismissed. The petitioner submits that the state (government) is involved in developing places of one specific religion, which is a misinterpretation due to preconceived notions," said the board's affidavit.

It also listed various works being carried out at pilgrimage places of different religions in the state, such as Buddhist caves in Saurashtra and a monastery in Mehsana, issuance of Rs 5 crore each to develop gurudwaras in Kutch and Dwarka, and installation of solar panels and e-rickshaws for some Muslim and Jain sites.

"Under Sant Nagri Project, the board has started development of a spiritual park that would house the teachings of 2,300 most revered saints, including Gautam Buddha, Sant Kabir, Khwaja Moinuddin and Guru Gobind Singh. The cost of the project is Rs 575 crore and it will be spread over 500 acres at Mahor village in Sabarkantha," the affidavit said.

The PIL, filed by activist Mujahid Nafees last year, contends that the constitution of the board is illegal as it promotes pilgrimage sites of only one religion.

It stated that the board was focusing only on developing Hindu temples while ignoring pilgrimage sites of other faiths.

"The action of the state government in selecting only a particular religion for promoting its religious spots is arbitrary, discriminatory and unconstitutional and therefore, the same deserves to be quashed and set aside," the PIL had said.

"Taxes and proceeds collected from citizens should not be spent over the promotion and maintenance of religious sites of a particular religion. Therefore, the constitution of Pavitra Yatradham Vikas Board is in contravention of the provisions of the Constitution," it alleged.