Gandhi center demolition: Priest among 10 released after arrests

By Matters India Reporter

Varanasi, Aug 12, 2023: A Catholic priest was among ten people arrested August 12 for opposing the demolition of a Gandhian center in Varanasi, a major town in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The member of the Indian Missionary Society and others were released in the same evening.

“All ten of us were released at 8:30 p.m. I am back at Vishwa Jyoti Communications,” Father Mathew told Matters India.

He expressed sadness that by evening all the buildings in the Sarva Seva Sangh campus, except the Post Office and the Gandhian Institute of Studies, were razed to the ground.

“We have to continue to fight to save our nation. It’s a do or die battle,” he added.

Earlier, as he was taken to the police line along with the other arrested, Father said, he was “extremely sad that the heritage and legacy of Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan and Vinoba Bhave are being destroyed.”

He said the authorities “came around 7 am with big machines when nobody was around. Hearing the news from those in the neighborhood, some of us gathered there. They arrested all those who came there.”

Sarva Seva Sangh, a well-known Gandhian institute, serves as the central office of its various branches all over India.

The center, situated on the bank of rivers Ganga and Varuna, in Rajghat on the northern end of Varanasi city, was founded in 1960 by Jay Prakash Narayan with the help of President Rajendra Prasad, Vinoba Bhave, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Jagjivan Ram to propagate Gandhian teachings.

Shastri, the then Railway minister, arranged for the sale of Railway property to the institute.

The demolition drive is based on a notice given by the Railways saying that the center stands on railway land encroached by the Gandhians. A legal battle has been going on for the past few months on the ownership of the land.

The center falls under the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Protest to save the Gandhian center had been going on for a long time and it was stepped up on July 22 when the police sealed the center.

A “mega event” was organized August 10 to save the center and it was addressed by activists such as Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav and Rakesh Tikait. “Large number of men and women took part in the event,” said Father Jayant, Father Mathew’s confrere.

On July 22, the district officials came with some 500 policemen who forcibly entered the houses in the 12.5-acre campus and removed its residents’ belongings.

The police also evicted some Gandhians, who were on a 63-day satyagraha protesting against the government attempt to demolish the premises, and arrested eight of them. The police threw out thousands of books published by the Sarvodaya publications.

The center, situated on the bank of rivers Ganga and Varuna, in Rajghat on the northern end of Varanasi city, was founded in 1960 by Jay Prakash Narayan with the help of President Rajendra Prasad, Vinoba Bhave, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Jagjivan Ram to propagate Gandhian teachings.

Shastri, the then Railway minister, arranged for the sale of Railway property to the institute.

The demolition is based on a notice given by the Railways saying that the Gandhians had encroached on the railway land to build the center. A legal battle has been going on for the past few months on the ownership of the land.

The protesters allege that the government wants the place to build a shopping mall as part of tourism promotion.

Father Jayant says the case has been pending in the court. “The court has not granted a stay, despite repeated attempts,” he added.

The campus housed Sarvodaya Publication which has published more than 1,500 books on Gandhi and the Gandhian Institute of Studies where research on Gandhian thoughts has taken place for the past six decades.

The center also managed a kindergarten school that gave free education to poor neighborhood children.