A temple atop a four-storey residential condominium in south Delhi’s Larger Kailash neighbourhood may quickly be the proprietor of an elephant that it proposes to get from Assam.
The Maa Baglamukhi Temple — which got here into prominence in 2018 when it organised a weeklong Rashtra Raksha Mahayagya that was attended by prime BJP and AAP leaders at Delhi’s Crimson Fort — has “earmarked” 1.5 acres within the Sainik Farm neighbourhood to maintain the elephant.
The proposed switch of the elephant to a residential neighbourhood comes six years after a Delhi Excessive Courtroom order led to the rescue of Delhi’s final captive elephants. Housing an elephant in Sainik Farm, a residential neighbourhood with a power water scarcity, units the clock again on that order, say animal rights activists.
This April, say sources within the Assam forest division, a Excessive-Powered Committee (HPC) on elephant rehabilitation forwarded to the workplace of the state Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) an utility by Siba Nath Doley, proprietor of a feminine elephant named Ranjita in Jorhat, who needed to switch the animal to the Delhi temple. In 2023, the Supreme Courtroom had put the HPC, headed by retired Justice Deepak Verma, accountable for the welfare and rehabilitation of all seized or rescued elephants throughout India.
In July, the Assam CWLW’s workplace sought the opinion of its counterpart in Delhi on the proposed switch. Following a prod by the HPC to “expedite the matter”, the divisional forest officer (DFO) of south Delhi inspected the proposed housing amenities in Sainik Farm the place “every little thing was discovered to be so as”.
On the standing of the proposal, Assam CWLW Sandeep Kumar stated, “The Delhi forest division has not objected to the proposed switch. Nevertheless, the Assam authorities remains to be inspecting the matter. We’re additionally wanting into some representations we obtained from civil society teams. A ultimate choice is awaited.”
Requested if Sainik Farm is match to deal with an elephant, Delhi CWLW Shyam Sundar Kandpal stated that he “took cost solely lately” — within the final week of September — and was not apprised of the matter.
DFO (South Delhi) Vipul Pandey declined to remark.
Shiv Kumar Rai alias Guruji, who runs the plush, air-conditioned Baglamukhi temple in Delhi’s Larger Kailash Half II, didn’t reply to emails asking on what phrases the elephant in query could be acquired from its proprietor in Jorhat and the rationale for transferring the animal to a residential neighbourhood in south Delhi.
The Baglamukhi temple, together with the Shree Yogini Peetham Belief, was arrange by Rai with one Chandra Mani Mishra on the Larger Kailash deal with. Throughout February-March 2018, Rai and Mishra joined Maheish Girri, then BJP MP from East Delhi, to organise a collection of occasions culminating within the weeklong Rashtra Raksha Mahayagya.
Attended by over a dozen members of the Union and Delhi Cupboards, together with Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Manish Sisodia, the mega occasion had over a thousand monks praying to Goddess Baglamukhi for the “safety of the nation” and the “defeat of enemies”, each “exterior and inside”.
On the cellphone, Chandra Mani Mishra claimed that he and Rai parted methods by the top of 2018. “I don’t know if my title remains to be there (within the Shree Yogini Peetham Belief) on paper however we went other ways quickly after the 2018 occasions. I’m not conscious of any of their actions since then,” he stated.
When The Indian Specific visited the temple-apartment in Larger Kailash, a younger priest-cum-functionary stated Rai was meditating. “Guruji meets devotees by appointment. However this can be a personal matter and Guruji wouldn’t wish to focus on it. All preparations are in place for the elephant. You’ll be able to discuss to Guruji’s PA,” he stated.
Ratan Kumar Dubey, “Guruji’s PA” who holds 33% stakes in Maa Baglamukhi Mandir Divine Merchandise Pvt Ltd, stated he couldn’t share any info. Rai (34%) and his brother Shubham (33%) are the opposite shareholders for the reason that firm was established on the Larger Kailash deal with in 2019.
At Sainik Farm, the workers denied entry to the high-walled compound that homes a number of animal sheds. A few neighbours claimed they knew that “Guruji’s ashram” would quickly get an elephant.
“Guruji is sort of younger and visits usually. He talked about an elephant. He already has horses in his steady. Camels, too,” stated an actual property supplier within the neighbourhood.
Following a Excessive Courtroom order in 2018, six of the seven captive elephants in Delhi had been rescued, the final in 2019. The seventh elephant, acquired by the Dabur Group within the Seventies, was allowed to remain on at a farmhouse in Dera Mandi.
“Delhi shouldn’t be a spot for elephants. After the HC helped rescue Delhi’s final captive elephants that had been in bodily and psychological misery, we’re turning the clock again by entertaining such a proposal. This additionally goes in opposition to the HPC’s mandate which is the general welfare of captive elephants,” stated Alok Hisarwala Gupta, founding father of the Centre for Analysis on Animal Rights.
