By Quaid Najmi
Nashik, May 17 (IANS) A large number of villagers along with the trustees of the Trimbakeshwar Temple and the nearby dargah on Wednesday appealed for peace and harmony in the pilgrim spot scarred by a row for the past four days.
The ex-Chairman of Trimbakeshwar Municipal Council, Purushottam Lohgaonkar, convened a meeting of the villagers, the trustees of the temple and dargah, all political parties and other eminent persons to discuss the issue that has cast a shadow on the reputation of this temple town.
The meeting was attended by temple trustee Bhushan Adsare, the officials of Hazrrat Pir Syed Gulab Shahwali Baba Dargah, Hazrat Pir Karim Shahwali Dargah Trust’s Sadruddin Kokni, Nashik CPI(M) Secretary Sunil Malusare, CITU leader Devidas Adole and others, wherein a resolution was adopted.
“The entire issue of May 13 was discussed in detail and all have unanimously agreed to maintain peace and communal harmony as has been prevailing here for decades,” Malusare told IANS.
Trustee Kokni said that hundreds of people from all communities participate in the annual ‘Urs’ of the Hazrrat Pir Syed Gulab Shahwali Baba Dargah, which passes near the Trimbakeshwar Temple and the processionists offer their respects to Lord Shiva there.
Incidentally, both the dargahs of the Sufi saints are situated within 1 km radius of the Trimbakeshwar Temple and enjoy cordial relations since long, pointed out Kokni.
“This time some elements attempted to create misunderstandings, but that was sorted out the very next day. There were no riots as alleged and even today, the situation is absolutely calm in entire Trimbakeshwar,” Kokni said.
Some locals attending the meeting also blamed mischievous social media reports and videos twisting the traditional procession out of context to make it a fake ‘sensitive’ development, and soon it flared up into a political issue.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Hindu Mahasabha performed cleansing rituals, pooja and showering flowers at the entrance of the temple where some Muslims allegedly attempted to trespass and offer ‘incense’ late on Saturday during the ‘Urs’ procession.
Hindu Mahasabha President Anand Dave has also demanded police action against the alleged trespassers, failing which he threatened that all temples in the state would be shut as a mark of protest.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said on Wednesday that “there were no forcible attempts to enter or trespass” inside the temple precincts and the Muslim devotees were merely trying to offer ‘incense’ (dhoop) as they traditionally do during ‘Urs’.
“There seems to be a conspiracy to disrupt the social harmony in the state by some persons masquerading in the name of Hindutva. The Muslims had gone there to offer their respects with ‘incense’ like they have been doing for many years. Many Hindus also go to offer prayers at various dargahs like Haji Ali, Ajmer and others… What’s wrong in this,” Raut asked.
On Tuesday, the state government had ordered filing of an FIR and appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident and a similar one in 2022, while the local police have booked at least three persons for the alleged offences.
(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
–IANS
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