Devotees throng the Kedarnath Temple during the ‘Char Dham Yatra’.
| Photo Credit: PTI
TheUttarakhand Cabinet on July 18 decided to implement strict laws against organisations or trusts using names of Char Dham temples of the State. The government says this creates confusion among people and devotees.
The Cabinet decision came days after the Char Dham temples’ priest association launched a Statewide protest against the BJP-led State government and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dami for laying the foundation stone of the replica of Kedarnath temple, proposed to be built in Delhi’s Burari.
According to a communique from the State government, at the Cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr. Dhami, it was decided that the State would take strict legal provisions against the formation of committee or trust in the name of Char Dham temples that consist of Barinath-Kedarnath-Gangotri-Yamunotri.
“Trusts in the name of other major temples located in the State will also be checked,” said a senior official who was part of the Cabinet meeting.
The Chief Minister, who witnessed the ire of the priest community in the State, which is also known as land of temples and gods, told the Cabinet that such trusts and organisations not only created confusion among the general public, but also hurt local traditions and religious beliefs, and there was also a possibility of resentment at the local level.
While the State government is on the backfoot pertaining to the Chief Minister laying the foundation stone for the proposed Kedarnath temple in Delhi, the opposition Congress has decided to launch a pada yatra from July 24 in protest against the proposal.
“The Kedarnath Bachao pada yatra will start from Haridwar on July 24 and conclude at Kedarnath Dham,” said Uttarakhand Congress president Karan Mahara.
