Heritage conservation activists on Friday slammed the Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA) for supposedly barring entry of visitors into the heritage zone on Naya Qila and termed the move as `discriminatory’ and a infringement of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
In a media release, members of Save Golconda Campaign (SGC) said that the ban on entry of public say the opposite to the articles of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and tourism department which ensures access of visitors to monuments within the Naya Qila such as the Mullah Khayali and Mustafa Khan mosques.
“Apart from lapses of heritage regulations, the bar on entry on some members of the public constitutes a violation of the fundamental right of an individual to equality and the equal protection of laws guaranteed by the Article 14 of the Indian Constitution,“ said activist Jasveen Jairath.
What has chagrined activists is the words “genuine tourist” used in a letter which the ASI had addressed to the HGA after visitors complained to the former of being denied access.
Reasoning that not granting access to the heritage site for a few members of the public is biased; activists also alleged that it is the HGA which have power over the access of visitors to the monument.
“The GO establishing the three member committee does not have within its brief any authority to impose any restriction on entry, and that too on a discriminating basis,” they claimed.
The activists demanded that the HGA terminate all activity in Naya Qila till all contentious issues, including those pertaining to the alleged changing of contours, are resolved.
A high level inquiry into the alleged desecration of the Archaeological Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act by the HGA is also being sought.
The SGC meanwhile said that an inspection of NQ, under police protection, will be conducted on Saturday to determine the destruction of the heritage precinct.