200-year-old temples turned to ashes by Islamist encroachers [ Assam, India ]

[ Reported as seen ]

200-year-old Shiv-Parvati and Lakshmi-Narayan temples being set on fire and reduced to ashes in the Ratabari area of Guwahati, Assam. The temple is inside the forest of Damsora village. In the darkness of the night, the miscreants set fire to the sacred temple. Three empty plastic jugs of fuel were discovered by the villagers inside the temple grounds, leading them to believe that the miscreants had burned the ancient temple with petrol.

As per the villagers, the Islamist families who had wrongly encroached the land of the forest were shifted to another place. They were quite pissed about it and used to pick fights with the tribal people often. The tribal people are native to the forest and have been living there for generations and with the permission of the forest department.

The tribal people believe it is an act of revenge.

According to D.C.Mridul Yadav, the eviction was completed a month ago, but they have since built some makeshift buildings and encroached on more forest area. The circle officer has been instructed to conduct more evictions during the following fifteen days.

According to the locals, Devi Ram Barman founded the temple close to the tribal settlement in the early 1800s. This hallowed location has served as the centre of tribal devotion for many years. Women who are distraught in the village claim that the miscreants intentionally set fire to the temple in order to offend the tribal Hindus’ religious feelings. They are calling for the guilty parties to face just punishment.