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After Ayodhya’s Babri, Varanasi’s Gyanvapi and Mathura’s Shahi Eidgah, is this the beginning of another mosque-temple controversy in UP?
On Monday, policemen remained deployed in the area around Jama Masjid in Sambhal. (PTI)
A day later, shutters were pulled down, internet services were shut down, schools were closed, roads were emptied and a police flag march took place communal clashes Four died, there was silence in Sambhal on Monday.
At the center of the violence in the city in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district is the Mughal-era royal Jama Masjid, which Hindus claim was built on the ruins of the centuries-old Sri Harihar Temple dedicated to Kalki, the 10th incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
After Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid, Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Masjid and Mathura’s Shahi Eidgah, is this the beginning of another long-running mosque-temple dispute in Uttar Pradesh?
News18 found the side of Hindu and Muslim petitioners.
Sambhal is on fire
Sunday’s tension began when a crowd protested against a court-ordered survey of the 16th-century mosque led by a lawyer commission investigating claims that the mosque was built over a pre-existing temple. According to district administration officials.
along with four deaths skirmishes Many people including 20 police personnel were injured. The condition of a police constable is critical due to head injury. Authorities have detained 21 persons, including three women, and launched an investigation with plans to charge those involved under the stringent National Security Act (NSA).
District Magistrate Rajendra Pensia said two people died due to gunshot wounds from country-made pistols, while the cause of the third death remains uncertain pending the post-mortem report.
Survey done, report will be submitted on November 29
District administration officials said Sunday’s violence had been erupting since last Tuesday when the survey began.
survey This came after a petition claimed that Mughal emperor Babur had demolished a Harihar temple at that site in 1529. Initially, to avoid disturbing the prayers, the survey proceedings were postponed till Sunday, but the survey proceedings led to unrest. Despite the clashes, officials completed the survey, including videography and photography, as directed by the court.
Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is involved in the Gyanvapi controversy, also confirmed that the survey report will be submitted by November 29.
hindu petition
Jama Masjid is a protected monument notified under the Ancient Monuments Protection Act, 1904, and is listed as a ‘Monument of National Importance’ by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
However, the Sambhal mosque came into the news after Jain’s petition representing eight petitioners.
The petition claims that Sambhal has unique significance in Hindu scriptures as the birthplace of Lord Kalki, the future incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It further states that the temple was built by Lord Vishwakarma at the beginning of the universe and has a unique idol symbolizing both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva.
“But the temple was destroyed by the Mughal emperor Babur in 1526 AD during his invasion of India, aimed at asserting Islamic dominance and subjugating the Hindus. Hari Shankar Jain, one of the petitioners, told News18, “In our petition, we have asked the court for permission to access the temple and an injunction to stop any disturbance at the site.
Citing the ‘Baburnama’, Jain claimed that Babur’s memoirs confirm the existence of a temple, which he reportedly demolished in 1529. Supporting the claim, the petitioners cited an 1875 report by the British archaeologist ACL Carlyle (Tours in the Central Doab and Gorakhpur, 1874). -1875 and 1875-1876), which observed that the pillars of the mosque bear a striking resemblance to the pillars of old Hindu temples, hidden under plaster. Removal of plaster on one pillar revealed the red pillars typical of Hindu temple architecture.
Additionally, the petitioners highlighted an inscription quoted in the 1875 report, which stated that the mosque was built in 1526 AD by Babur’s courtier Mir Hindu Beg, who allegedly converted a temple into a mosque. An ASI report has also identified features within the mosque that indicate its connection to Hindu temple structures, further adding to the controversy.
Muslim side’s version
Lawyer Zafar Ali, who is also part of the royal Jama Masjid committee, rejected the Hindu side’s claims about the temple existing at the site. He said, “The Hindu side has no evidence to prove that there was any temple here before the mosque. They cannot even tell in which year or century the alleged temple was built.”
He said that if a temple had existed, there would have been historical records or documents about it, which the petitioners lack. He also said that Baburnama and other texts cited by the Hindu side require thorough judicial interpretation to establish their credibility. He acknowledged the historical importance of Sambhal as the capital of Prithviraj Chauhan, but said that this does not prove the existence of the temple. He said that no such claim has been made since independence. “Though some cases were filed in 1877 and 1879, they were dismissed with verdicts in favor of Jama Masjid,” he said, adding that the temple’s claim is based on rumors and not facts.
political turn
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi criticized the UP government’s handling of the controversy, calling it “partisan and hasty” and calling the incident “extremely unfortunate”. Appealing for peace, Gandhi wrote on Twitter, “The administration’s insensitive action without listening to all parties has worsened the situation and led to the deaths of many people – for which the BJP government is directly responsible.”
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged a “conspiracy to spread tension in the name of survey” and demanded immediate intervention of the Supreme Court. “A case should be registered against those who took the sloganeering with them for disturbing peace and harmony,” he said. With the aim of disturbing social harmony.”
SP MP Zia ur Rehman Barke, facing charges related to the violence, defended the mosque as a historic structure, citing a 1991 Supreme Court ruling that religious places should remain as they were in 1947.
In response, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said, “No one has the right to break the law.” If any court has passed any order then it will be implemented. The judicial process is available to those who seek modification of the order.”
Other such controversies in UP
Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid dispute: Controversy It is centered around a plot of land in Ayodhya, which Hindus consider the birthplace of Lord Rama. Under Babur, the Babri Masjid was built on this site in 1528. Hindu groups claimed that it was built after the demolition of the Ram temple. The controversy escalated so much that the mosque was demolished by Kar Sevaks on December 6, 1992, sparking riots across the country.
The matter reached the court and in 2010, Allahabad High Court divided the land into three parts between Hindu, Muslim and Nirmohi Akhara. However, the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment on November 9, 2019, awarded the entire 2.77-acre disputed site to Hindus for the construction of the Ram temple, while directing the government to allot 5 acres of land to Muslims to build the Ram temple. . Mosque In Ayodhya.
Mathura’s Shahi Idgah Mosque controversy: The mosque built during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb in Mathura is located near Krishna birthplaceIt is considered to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna. Hindu litigants claim that the mosque was built after the demolition of the Keshavdev temple in the 17th century. In December, a local court accepted the Hindu side’s petition, but the Muslim side lodged an objection in the High Court. Currently, nine cases are pending in Mathura courts, with Hindu petitioners continuously demanding the removal of the mosque from the 13.77-acre complex, which it shares with the Katra Keshav Dev Temple.
Responding to an RTI query, the ASI, citing a gazette of November 1920, confirmed that Aurangzeb had demolished the temple to build the mosque. The ASI document states that parts of the Katra mound were occupied before the demolition of the temple and were later used for the construction of the mosque, adding historical significance to the Hindu claims.
Kashi’s Gyanvapi controversy: In August 2021, Rakhi Singh and four other Hindu women approached the Varanasi Civil Court, seeking the right to worship Hindu deities within the Gyanvapi Mosque complex throughout the year. The plaintiff said in his claim that the Gyanvrip Masjid and its premises were once a Hindu temple. He claimed that Aurangzeb had demolished the temple and built a mosque there. The court directed the ASI to survey the Gyanvapi Mosque. Its purpose was to determine whether the mosque was built on a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple or not. In his report, ASI It was discovered that what appeared to be a pre-existing structure was destroyed in the 17th century, and “parts of it were modified and reused”, based on scientific studies, it can be said. That before “there” a large Hindu temple existed. Construction of existing mosque”.
