Even as the demolition of Telangana secretariat complex has led to a lot of criticism from various opposition parties and heritage conservationists, the issue was all set to take a religious colour following the demolition of two mosques and a temple within the secretariat premises.
Particularly, the demolition of two mosques landed the KCR government in trouble with the Muslim groups raising a strong protest. They pointed out that the government had not consulted any of the Islamic religious scholars before demolishing the mosques, as it is against their personal law.
Apparently realising that it might snowball into a major issue, Telangana chief minister Chandrashekhar Rao issued a statement expressing regret and pain over “some inconvenience caused to the temple and mosques in the Secretariat” premises due to the demolition works taking place there.
The chief minister declared that in the new Secretariat premises itself, a new temple and Mosque would be constructed in a more spacious site, at the government’s cost.
“The government has begun to construct a new Secretariat Building Complex by demolishing the old buildings. I came to know that, while demolishing the multi-storied old buildings, the temple and mosque adjacent to the old buildings were damaged due to fall of the debris on them. I felt sorry about the incident. It should not have happened. The government’s intention is to build a new complex by demolishing the old buildings without causing any damage to the temple or the mosque,” the CM clarified.
“We will construct a temple and Mosque in the Secretariat premises in a more spacious way even it means spending of crores of rupees. We will construct the temple and Mosque at the government cost and handed them over the people concerned. I will have a meeting with the Temple and Mosque organisers on this matter very soon. After discussing with them, along with the new Secretariat, places of worship will also be constructed and handed over to the concerned. This is my promise,” the CM declared.
“Telangana State is a secular State. We will continue the secular spirit come what may. This incident happened unexpectedly. Everyone should understand this properly without prejudice,” the CM urged.