SAD forms 7-member committee to take up Ravidas temple issue with Centre

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday formed a seven-member committee to hold discussions with the Union government to facilitate the restoration of a Guru Ravidas temple in Delhi which has been demolished on the orders of the Supreme Court.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the SAD scheduled caste wing presided over by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, according to a party statement.

The temple in Tughlakabad was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on August 10 on the orders of the Supreme Court. Since then, a number of protests have been held by Dalit organisations against the move.

The SAD president and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal met Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently and urged him to sympathetically consider the demand of the community for rebuilding the temple at the site.

The committee members are former Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, former ministers Gulzar Singh Ranike and Sohan Singh Thandal, former MLA Nirmal Singh and legislators Pawan Kumar Tinu, Sukhwinder Sukhi and Baldev Khaira.

They will meet central government representatives on Thursday, the party said.