After paying her obeisance at Patiala's historic Kedarnath temple, Ex-External Affairs Minister and MP Patiala Preneet Kaur on Friday lodged her protest against the decision of the Improvement Trust at the behest of the Punjab government of selling the land of the ancient temple situated at Rajpura Road, and thus hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.This attempt by the Punjab government to commercialise the land of the temple will not be tolerated at any cost, she said and informed that a letter registering their protest addressed to the CM has also been sent to the DC Patiala.
Member of Lok Sabha Preneet Kaur further said that, "Maharaja Narinder Singh established Sri Kedarnath Temple on Rajpura Road in 1852 and donated 90 bighas and 1 bisba of land for the development of the temple. When the idea was floated of constructing a bus stand on this land for the convenience of the residents of the area, all the people belonging to Hindu religion welcomed it for the convenience of the residents of the area and did not oppose the allotment of temple land for the bus stand. But due to some reasons the Punjab government selected another land for the constructing the new bus stand, and now efforts have been started to sell the land of this ancient Kedarnath temple."
She reaffirmed that," the people of the city would not allow this attempt by the Punjab government to ruin the 'Maryada' of the ancient temple to succeed at any cost." She further said that the land adjoining the Shri Kedarnath temple has always been kept for the public interest and the Punjab government should leave behind the decision to sell it, and instead should take interest in constructing something for public interest like parks, parking lots, playgrounds or stadiums etc.Speaking on the occasion Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu said that if the Punjab government ignored the Hindu religious beliefs and goes in with it's plan to sell the land of Shri Kedarnath temple, they would not shy away from gathering all the Hindu organizations and start an agitation against it.
According to the mayor, on the orders of the Punjab government, in a meeting to be held on May 30 under the chairmanship of DC Sakshi Sawhney, new rates would be fixed for the sale of the land of Sri Kedarnath Temple and about 1548 yards of land of Toba Baba Dhyana. Whereas On May 26, 2021, former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had given green signal to the proposal of multi-storey car park on the land of Toba Baba Dhyana. The proposed cost and plans for this parking lot has already been prepared. But the government is trying to sell the land at a commercial price.
According to the mayor, if the land is sold, the traffic congestion in the city will be out of control, which will lead to a complete shutdown of the city's markets.Jai Inder Kaur, Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu, PLC Vice President KK Sharma, PLC District President KK Malhotra, Councilor Atul Joshi, Vijay Kukka, Sandeep Malhotra, Nikhil Batish Sheru, Rajinder Sharma, Seema Sharma, Anil Mangla, Deputy Mayor Vinti Sangar, Sonu Sangar: Former chairman of Labourfed Punjab Vishwas Saini among others were present on the occasion.
... What does the revenue record say
According to the revenue records, there was 90 bighas and 1 biswa of land near the ancient Sri Kedarnath temple. A temple has been set up on 1 bigha 5 biswa land in this land. Out of 88 bighas 16 biswa land allotted to PRTC for bus stand, 57 bighas 3 biswa land was given by PRTC to Town Improvement Trust. 14 bighas and 9 biswas of land is still due with PRTC. And The remaining 9 bighas 15 biswas of land has been illegally occupied.