President cancels Bodh Gaya visit

GAYA: President Pranab Mukherjee’s Bodh Gaya visit, scheduled for November 1, stands cancelled apparently in view of a propriety-related matter. Mukherjee was to participate in a function organized by a Bodh Gaya-based Bangladeshi monastery.
On September 26, TOI had reported the Bangladeshi monastery in question had been built in alleged violation of construction by-laws. Monastery officials are facing criminal charges for unlawful activities, including preventing officials of law-enforcement agencies from entering the building’s premises to execute a ban imposed on the construction work there.
The Gaya DM’s office has received a formal two-line communication regarding the cancellation of the president’s visit. Though no reason has been given in the letter, sources said it could be because of reasons of propriety.
The case against monastery officials was registered at Bodh Gaya police station last December. It was lodged on the basis of a written complaint from Sanjay Lal, executive officer of the Bodh Gaya Nagar Panchayat. Asked about the status of the case, a senior police officer told TOI that investigation was on.
In view of UNESCO recommendations, construction activity is prohibited within a 500-metre radius of the outer wall of the Mahabodhi Temple. The height of buildings is limited to three metres in the area between 500 metres and 1,000 metres of the shrine’s outer wall and no construction beyond a height of 10 metres is permissible in the area between 1,000 metres and 2,000 metres of the shrine. UNESCO had made the recommendations while granting World Heritage Site status to the Buddhist shrine in June 2002.
Municipal officials say the Bangladeshi monastery falls in the prohibited zone.
Instances of VVIPs refraining from visiting disputed sites in Bodh Gaya have been reported earlier too. In 2004, then president A P J Abdul Kalam wanted to visit an orphanage at Cherki village in Gaya district. But he was advised against it since the orphanage was involved in a land dispute. A couple of years ago, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa cancelled a foundation-laying schedule in Bodh Gaya because of the questionable nature of the land on which the construction was to take place.