Hyderabad: Anjamma has lived in Chandrayangutta in Hyderabad long enough to know what the neighbourhood feels like when things are normal. So, when she heard that the Dwimukhi Hanuman Temple nearby had been desecrated, it unsettled her.
“All of us have lived in peace over the years,” she told Siasat.com. “This is the first time such a thing has happened at the temple.” She was not alone in that sentiment.
Devotees who arrived for their morning prayers on Tuesday, February 24, found the iron grill of the temple broken and the sindhooram of the idol desecrated. The Chandrayangutta Police Station’s Station House Office (SHO) R Gopi confirmed that miscreants had carried out the desecration, which is believed to have taken place late on Monday night or in the early hours of Tuesday morning. A case has since been filed under sections 324(2) (act causes damage), 329 (criminal trespass), and 298 (uttering words with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
This was the latest in a spate of attacks on places of worship across Telangana.
Residents, devotees point to security lapses
For Zakir, who has lived in Chandrayangutta for 40 years, the incident felt unexpected for the area. “This is the first time such an incident has happened,” he said. But his concern was also about what might come next.
“We don’t want this to aggravate into communal tensions,” he added, before asking: “Is one round of a patrolling team enough?”
That question was on the minds of a devotee too. Sukesh, a regular at the temple, pointed out that a police patrolling team makes its rounds every night. “I don’t know how they missed it. We demand the culprits be caught at the earliest,” he said.
Jaidev, another regular visitor, noted that the temple had seen petty crime before. “Previously, there were incidents of theft from the donation box,” he said, “but this is a serious issue and the culprits must be caught.”
No gate, CCTV cameras
Jaidev and several others also recalled that the temple used to have a gate at its entrance, which had been removed at some point, though no one was certain why.
One resident, who did not wish to be named, suspected that drug addicts, who were often seen sitting on the temple premises, may have been responsible. A shopkeeper running a general store near the temple, who said he had been living in the locality for three years, added that he had not noticed any such untoward incident during that time.
There were no closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at the temple at the time of the desecration. Following the incident, residents demanded that cameras be put in place and a compound wall be constructed around the premises.
BJP, VHP blame Congress
The incident drew attention from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders, who alleged that temple desecrations have been rising since the Congress government came to power in Telangana.
“The government preaches that we should all live together peacefully, but when such incidents occur, there is no action from the state. How often do you find temples with a two-faced deity?” VHP Bhagyanagar Secretary Rajendra Reddy said, referring to what the Dwimukhi Hanuman Temple distinct.
The culprits, as of now, remain unidentified.
