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PATNA, INDIA, November 19, 2003: Patna has seen some instances of people grabbing public land by installing a Hanuman icon there. But the government is not taking any action against them. And when it does, it’s of no use. One person decided to install a life-sized image of Lord Hanuman in front of the Patna planetarium. When the authorities complained, and the police tried to clear the area, they had to retreat in the face of huge public protests. “If somebody puts a small icon in his pocket, does that mean you can construct a temple there? Never. Therefore, the real issue here is that under the pretence of defending Hanuman, they do many things,” says Amitabh Ghosh, director of Patna Planetarium. But this has been an old story in Patna. For ten years now, a crossing on the Boring road has been closed to traffic after the Patna High Court held a temple there to be legal. Mahavir Mandir, which is at the entrance to the Patna railway station, is also always in the news for encroaching railway and public lands. Rajendra Gope, a temple priest, acknowledges that the temple is on government land. Asked whether the government has ever raised an objection, Gope replies: “No, not here, probably because this temple has been here for some years and nobody ever wanted to stop it. All the IAS, IPS (government) officers are supporting us.”

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