INDIA. Mumbai: After the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) last week demolished the illegal “Mazar” that had come up off the Mahim coast in Mumbai, now the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has demanded the immediate demolition of an unauthorised Dargah constructed in Navi Mumbai.
The unauthorised Dargah (Muslim shrine) has come up on Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai on an open plot located close to the Training Ship Chanakya (T.S. Chanakya or Indian Maritime University), which imparts training to merchant navy candidates. The campus spreads across North-South, parallel to Palm Beach Highway, on an area of 40 acres.
T.S. Chanakya is the oldest and most renowned maritime academy in India. It is a shore-based successor to the Training Ship Rajendra (1972-1993) and the Training Ship Dufferin (1927-1993). Besides, the BARC’s unit is stated to be located close to it.
Gajanan Kale, who is the president of MNS Navi Mumbai City, told the Transcontinental Times that this dargah is illegal and is built on mangroves near the coast. The Dargah is located in a sensitive area. It should be demolished, or else the MNS will construct a Ganesh temple next to it. Kale has also tweeted the photograph of the Dargah and has tagged CIDCO Ltd., Navi Mumbai Police, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra Maritime Board, and Thane Collector.
It may be recalled that while addressing the annual “Gudi Padwa” rally at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park at Dadar in Central Mumbai on Wednesday (March 22), MNS Chief Raj Thackeray demanded the demolition of the illegal Mazar (Muslim enshrined tomb) located in Mahim in Central Mumbai. He had also threatened to construct a Ganesh temple next to it if the Mazar is not demolished. The illegal construction was demolished amid heavy police deployment the very next day.
Soon after the demolition, Maharashtra Minister Deepak Kesarkar said that the Mazar was constructed in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), and as such, the action was taken against it. “Now there is a government in Maharashtra that walks on the path of Balasaheb Thackeray,” he had said.
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