If there is one incident that brings to mind David and Goliath in recent times in Bengaluru, it’s the All Saints Church (ASC) campaign. Many of us have followed the tragedy of an 1876 heritage property of religious significance being ridden roughshod over by city authorities over the last few months.
While the surrounding properties in the prominent Brigade Road/Hosur Road area have already been purchased for Namma Metro, many were horrified at the impending destruction of more church land and damage to the church itself. The bewildered parishioners of the All Saints Church( ASC), who had been baptized and married, held funerals and other ceremonies here, were devastated at the planned destruction of their sacred space with a common community history dating back to the late 1800s.
Most were upset that they were not consulted by either their own diocese or the government before a decision was taken. While the parishioners will undoubtedly feel the loss of the church, the impact of its destruction will be no less on the city and its people as a whole.
Attempting to make it a religious or minority issue is clearly a means of pulling the wool over people’s eyes. The sheer emotion, focus, commitment and unwavering belief of those fighting to protect the church is absolutely moving. While many of us, who have been campaign veterans, came in quickly to offer advice in terms of structure, legality, engineering focus and network, the grit and effort that these amazing bunch of people bring to the table is really touching.
So much was done – the Deputy Conservator Of Forests had an open public discussion for the first time in Bengaluru, letters were written, and the request was made while Namma Metro did what was right from its point of view. And yet these beleaguered parishioners trudged on. #HeritageBeku offered its support with a Heritage and Biodiversity Walk through this green sacred grove. Participant like UK- based, Aliya Krumbiegel Phelps, were blown away by the ASC’s sheer heritage and natural green beauty and appalled that anyone could dream of destroying it.
The DPR scrutiny showed that a small shift in the alignment could put the Metro station more into empty defence land, and save the church and it’s grounds, but instead of motivating the authorities to consider it and do the right thing, the mood turned penal as the Metro authorities, shockingly, decided to make the acquisition of this precious city space permanent instead of temporary. Pleas of those affected fell on deaf ears, but this hubris had its own comeuppance as the Defence authorities discovered that the ASC property had been theirs from the 1800s and only on lease to the church, making the earlier sale illegal.
When a large group of citizens met the KIADB officer in charge of the church land acquisition public consultation, I surprised myself by the almost evangelical zeal with which I rode into this issue, highlighting this as the inflexion point in Bengaluru’s continued future.
Bengaluru is extremely supportive of the Metro as critical to driving its non- existent public transportation, But the Metro needs to follow the law, embrace the ‘and’ and collaborate in its projects rather than mindlessly looking at engineering to move ahead and erratically plan from A to B. Its failure to be inclusive of people, environment, heritage and sustainability is making the Metro’s high-handedness increasingly visible and unpopular. We can only hope that the Metro we support so wholeheartedly does not need to make needless and unnecessary sacrifices of our city merely to feed its ego.
Today, the banner and its patient campaigners show that the ASC protest has crossed 110 days. Isn’t it time for a win-win for the city? Be proud that you have people to stand up for Bengaluru. We have missed the wood for the trees long enough.
The writer is founder #HeritageBeku
