Team Herald
PONDA: Marcaim residents, under the banner of Navdurga Prathishtan, gheraoed the Ponda mamlatdar for the second time in four days, demanding the suspension or dissolution of the Navdurga Temple committee for its alleged failure to manage the temple’s affairs. They have also expressed anger at the temple committee’s decision to stop all rituals at the temple as it feared law and order problems in view of its decision to replace the old Navdurga idol with a new one.
Shailendra Panajikar, who led the villagers, said that they also wanted the committee to hand over gold ornaments from the temple lockers, which they needed for the Navdurga Palkhim procession on Friday night.
The citizens have urged Ponda Mamlatdar Joao Fernandes, who is the Administrator of Temples, not to fall prey to political pressure and to ask the temple committee who had authorised it to stop all rituals in the temple. They added that the villagers had been performing rituals there for many years.
The villagers also urged Fernandes to take over the temple committee and scrap the Mahajan Act. They further questioned why he had not taking action against the committee despite submitting a memorandum to him on March 28.
They also warned that if government allowed the temple committee to act high-handedly and deny the villagers the right to perform rituals, the villagers would not be responsible for any law and order situation that arises.
Citing misuse of funds, the villagers also asked Fernandes to take the keys of the temple’s donation box, and keep an account of the gold and donations offered to the temple.
The villagers were also irked as they would not be able to adorn the Navdurga idol with gold ornaments during the Palkhim celebration as the ornaments were stored in lockers of the temple committee. They also accused the committee of creating a law and order situation in the village.
The villagers recalled a similar situation in 2008, when the temple committee allegedly locked the temple when the villagers were expected to perform rituals, and it was only after a late-night intervention by the Deputy Collector and Ponda mamlatdar that the doors were opened.
The villagers alleged that the Mahajans, by stopping rituals, did not believe in Navdurga. They also claimed that the Mahajans were only managers, and not owners of the temple.
Meanwhile, Mamlatdar Fernandes said that he would act as per the law and that he would discuss the issue with the temple committee. He also said that police would be deputed at Marcaim for the Palkhim celebration on Friday night to prevent untoward incidents.
