AnyTV News The tomb present in the prestigious school where Rahul and Scindia studied was demolished -

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tomb in school

A ‘mazar’ located inside a famous residential school in Dehradun was demolished after strong protests by right-wing Hindu organisations. These organizations were protesting against the presence of the shrine within the walls of an educational institution. This structure was housed within the prestigious ‘The Doon School’ whose alumni include many dignitaries and political leaders such as late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, his son Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik, renowned author Amitav Ghosh and Vikram Seth is included.

Video viral on social media

‘The Doon School’ has been one of the most prestigious private residential schools for boys since the days of the British Raj. In the video that went viral on social media, 4-5 persons are seen breaking the tomb located in the school premises with hammers. Dehradun District Magistrate Savin Bansal said on Friday that this incident happened two days ago. He said, “We had not given any orders for its demolition. However, we had sent a team including the Sub-Collector to the spot to verify the facts related to the shrine and ensure that law and order is maintained.

I welcome the demolition of the tomb – Swami Darshan Bharti

Bansal also said that he has asked for a report on this episode from his team. However, right-wing Hindu leader Swami Darshan Bharti said he had recently met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and officials and requested them to demolish the shrine inside the prestigious school. Bharti, who runs an organization called ‘Uttarakhand Raksha Abhiyan’, said, “Whoever has done this, I welcome the demolition of the tomb.” Why should there be a tomb inside a school and that too inside ‘The Doon School’ which is famous in the whole country. This shows to what extent land jihad has reached within the state during the tenure of the previous governments.

The school authorities had got the tomb repaired

According to sources, the tomb was old and the school authorities had recently got it repaired. The Dhami government of the state had started a forceful campaign against illegal encroachment on government land in the name of Land Jihad or Mazar from 2022, under which till now 5000 acres of government land has been freed from encroachment. It is being told that the part of Doon School, where the tomb was built, was once the property of Uttarakhand Waqf Board.

An official of the Waqf Board, requesting anonymity, said, “According to our records, 57 acres of land in that area was ours but at present nothing is known about its status.” The Board still has a lot of land adjacent to ‘The Doon School’. When contacted, Uttarakhand Waqf Board Chairman Shadab Shams said that he was aware about the demolition of the tomb located inside Doon School. When asked whether the land belonged to the Waqf Board, he said it could be known only after a detailed investigation by the administration. (with language inputs)