HT Correspondent
SIVASAGAR, April 26: In the face of massive protests from the devotees of Lord Siva and the senior citizens cutting across all religions, the Sivalinga which was removed arbitrarily from the sanctum sanctorum of the historic Siva Doul in Sivasagar was re-installed on Sunday night by the party engaged in the reconstruction of the Doul under Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)’s directions. The protest gathered momentum as The Assam Tribune carried a special report on the unceremonious removal of the Sivalinga with a photograph of the spot from where the icon was removed. Secretary of the Doul Development Committee Basanta Gogoi informed that the removal of the Sivalinga was done by ASI but the ASI Guwahati office denied having any such plan. A team of ASI visited the famous temple site on Sunday following the publication of the news and might have ordered re-installation immediately.
On Monday, a large group of senior citizens led by Nitya Narayan Borgohain, Ranjit Borgohain, Laksmikanta Mahanta, Sourav Chaliha, and Manoj Kr Borthakur met with Sivasagar deputy commissioner Megha Nidhi Dahal and submitted a memorandum urging him to take immediate steps to stop the further dismantling of the interiors of the historic Doul revered by millions all over the country and take legal action against those persons responsible for cutting the old trees from the temple premises and removal of the Sivalinga and the Nandi icon. The group included Manirul Islam Bora, Safiqur Rahman, and a number of Muslim citizens who were also hurt by the act of removal of the Sivalinga. Dahal assured the delegation of his full cooperation and expressed concern over the lack of a clear-cut policy for restoration and renovation works of the historic monuments. He added that ASI did not even allow him to install some lights in the Doul premises and had to wait for six months for permission. The members of the delegation apprised the deputy commissioner that some members of the Doul Development Committee had been doing some work detrimental to the age-old tradition of communal harmony in the district without his consent. They stressed the formation of a committee with at least ten senior-most citizens who can truly represent the history of the three Douls Siva, Bishnu, and Devi Doul and the religious practices followed there.
