BANGLADESH, April 19, 2002: A gang of land-grabbers has started demolishing a 100-year-old “abandoned” Hindu temple at Rankin Street at Wari in the name of building a primary school. Walls and columns around the temple, which should otherwise be preserved as a historical relic, have already been demolished. Haji Abdur Rab, who lives next door and also an official of the school committee, is overseeing the demolition of the temple and extension work of the school. Haji Abdur Rab said that the Facilities Department of the Ministry of Education is financing the construction of a four-story school on “whatever land” is available. When asked why then they had removed the columns and walls, he replied that the laborers mistakenly removed the bricks. The Hindu community of the area had stopped worshipping in the temple several years ago after a section of local people built a wall around the temple, blocking access to it. Many residents of Wari condemned the decision to demolish such an old structure bearing the mark of traditional architecture.
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