KURNOOL: Tense situation prevailed at the Temple Town of Srisailam on Tuesday with the police resorting to lathi charge on protesters at Sivaji Sphoorthy Centre on Tuesday. The protesters were agitating against cleansing Srisailam Temple service which has been populated by people belonging to non-Hindu religion.
Over 70 employees are said to be working in the temple in various positions, said Bajrang Dal State Vice-President Prathap Reddy. A memorandum was given to Srisailam Executive Officer K.S. Rama Rao and urged him to execute Endowments Act in all temple-related appointments, he said.
The trouble began at Srisailam when the Executive Officer tried to auction away commercial shops at Lalithambika Commercial Complex on August 16. Budda Srikanth Reddy, a BJP leader, had raised the issue that shops were allotted to non-Hindu businessmen and demanded scrapping of the exercise.
Minister for endowments Vellampalli Srinivas ordered scrapping of auctions, transferred executive officer Sriramchandra Murthy and appointed K.S. Rama Rao in his place in quick succession of events on Monday.
To safeguard the sanctity of the temple, the BJP leaders and Hindu based spiritual organisations called ‘Chalo Srisailam’ on Tuesday. After learning about the call given by Hindu based organisation leaders, the government immediately transferred A. Sri Ramachandra Murthy and deputed K.S. Rama Rao as the EO with immediate effect to subside the tense situations. Atmakur DSP Venkata Rao said that the situation has been brought under control and peace prevails at Srisailam. He said that as a precautionary measure, some leaders were taken into custody on Monday and were released on Tuesday.
Even then, the protesters managed entry in to the temple and staged a protest in front of the EO’s office and expressed their anguish. A police official said that the situation is under control. No untoward incidents have taken place, added the police officer.
Srisailam police took into custody 20 people, belonging to different religious organizations, besides arresting leaders of the BJP and Bajrang Dal at Kurnool, Nandyal, Atmakur and other places. Shiva Sakti Swamy and his followers, were also taken into custody by the police, and were later released.
Mr Prathap Reddy said that due to inaction of previous governments, the temple town of Srisailam is infested with non-Hindu faiths causing loss of faith among the Hindus. He narrated an incident where a board was put as ‘Srisaila Matha Temple’ which directs you to a place of worship dedicated to Mary Matha. Srisailam is a holy place of Lord Shiva and Bramarambha for ages and no one calls Bramarambha as Srisailam Matha, he said.
