MEERUT
: In 2015, a group of Valmiki families from
Baghpat had threatened to convert to Islam if they were not allowed to pray inside a Valmiki temple in Baleni village of Baghpat. They had alleged that it was the dominant
Yadav
community of the village who did not allow them inside. Matters came to a head when the Valmikis took out a procession on Valmiki Jayanti and violence erupted. The administration and the police at the time assured them that the issue would be resolved and nobody would stop them from praying inside the temple or taking out a procession. However, two years later, the Valmikis are still not allowed inside the temple and are once again threatening to convert to Islam if the matter is not resolved.
“This issue has been going on for a long time. We have been stopped by the Yadav community from entering the temple. It is a Valmiki temple and we have every right to offer prayers there. But they have denied us this right for several years. Whenever we go there we are told very rudely to leave and that we have no right over this temple. We are not even allowed to take out a procession of Valmiki. We will convert to Islam if this is how we are treated,” said
Ashwini Kumar, a resident of Daurala, who has tried to visit the temple frequently.
Some aggrieved members of the community got together in 2015 and requested the administration to intervene in the matter. However, little has changed.
“I do not know what we need to do to make the administration do something about it. We approached many authorities in 2015, and we were assured that our concerns would be addressed. However, nothing has happened yet. We have also asked the police for assistance but even they have not been helpful. Valmikis from areas around the temple have now got together and we will protest together. We will even convert to Islam if needed. We have now decided that till all our concerns are addressed we will sit on hunger strike in
Chaudhary Charan Singh Park
in Meerut,” said Shyam Singh, a resident of Jamalpur village near Meerut.
“I have not yet received any information about such an issue. But, if this is true, then it is a serious matter and I will have it checked out soon,” said Sanjeev Suman, additional superintendent of police, Baghpat.
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