Accident, says ex-LS Speaker on Manikarnika Ghat controversy

Indore: Even as a controversy raged over the rejuvenation work at Varanasi's Manikarnika ghat, former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Friday said the damage to old structures at Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi was ‘inadvertent' and ‘an accident' that took place while carrying out development works. Mahajan's statement followed condemnation of reports of alleged demolitions at the historic Manikarnika Ghat, which Devi Ahilyabai had restored in 1791 and established statues on walls.
The Varanasi administration has, however, has denied the charges, saying that the stone pieces with idols carved on them – being shown on social media with false claims – are not of deities but and those are being preserved to be made part of the walls of the new structure of the rejuvenated ghat. "The idols of deities and Shivlings found at Manikarnika Ghat rejuvenation project have been kept at a safe place. All artefacts found in debris are now under culture department custody to re-establish them in the new structure after the ghat is rejuvenated," Varanasi district magistrate Satyendra Kumar told TOI. Yeshwantrao Holkar, president of the trust and a descendant of the erstwhile Holkar royal family of Indore, stated that the statues now lie in the rubble of the demolished structure. Mahajan, speaking to mediapersons, said, "It is important to conserve old structures, but development is also necessary. Who has broken the statues? Has anyone intentionally hit them with a hammer? I am not sure either about which statue was broken." "Development has the same importance as conservation. I have spoken to people in Varanasi. The Varanasi district administration said that while carrying out development work, the earth-moving machine hit something," the former Lok Sabha speaker said. Claiming the structures would be 300-400 years old and a small motion by heavy machines may damage them, Mahajan said in Maheshwar too, the temple was recently renovated. "Recently, heavy machines damaged water supply lines in my locality. I got murky water at home. Such accidents happen. Something similar happened in Varanasi, but it is a big accident. The administration said they would renovate it. Development works have to be carried out," Mahajan added. The Khasgi trust, which considers itself the custodian of Ahilyabai's legacy and the Manikarnika ghat, claimed to have made efforts to recover the effigies and threatened to initiate legal proceedings against the responsible agencies. In its statement, the trust clarified its position on development. "In line with the vision and life's work of Punyashlok Devi Ahilyabai Holkar, the Khasgi Trust and Holkar family wholeheartedly support well-planned and sensitive development of facilities for people to worship," the statement read, while commending Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath's vision for such development. However, the trust has called the local-level demolition disrespectful, stating it should have been done with proper consideration for Ahilyabai's legacy and the ghat she built on the banks of the Ganga. The Trust has made three specific demands to PM Narendra Modi and Yogi -- conduct a full investigation into the incident and hold relevant people accountable; instruct authorities to safely recover the statues and hand them over to the Khasgi Trust; and ensure authorities coordinate directly with the Trust to restore the statues to their rightful place in any new development.