The Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district has dismissed 167 employees, including 114 Muslims, citing reasons of indiscipline and irregularities. This decision follows demands from Hindu groups to remove Muslim employees from the temple.

According to the temple administration, the decision was not based on religion or caste, but solely on employee misconduct. They stated that a list was compiled of employees with disciplinary issues, leading to the dismissal of the 167 individuals, which included the 114 Muslim employees.

Prior to the dismissals, Acharya Tushar Bhosale, head of the BJP Spiritual Coordination Front, had announced a protest scheduled for June 14, demanding the removal of Muslim employees. However, a day before the planned protest, the temple trust held a meeting and decided to dismiss the employees.

The temple administration had previously stated that the Muslim employees worked in various departments, including agriculture, waste management, and education. However, 99 of the 114 Muslim employees had reportedly not been coming to work for the past five months. The trust also acknowledged delays in salary payments to these employees.

The dismissals have sparked controversy, with some suggesting that the decision was a result of pressure from Hindu organizations, while the temple management maintains that it was purely an administrative decision based on employee conduct. The Shani Shingnapur Devasthan Trust has denied any external pressure influenced their decision, asserting it was based on internal assessments and administrative requirements.

ट्रस्ट विश्वस्त अप्पासाहेब शेटे provided information regarding the action taken against the employees.