Indian court allows survey of mosque to confirm if it was built on temple
A court in India has allowed the survey of a 17th century mosque to determine if it was built over a Hindu temple.
On Thursday, the Allahabad court gave its nod for the survey of Shahi Idgah Mosque in the city of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh by a court-appointed and -monitored advocate commissioner.
The decision came in response to petitions filed by Hindu right wing groups that claim the mosque stands on the birthplace of Lord Krishna.
The right-wing groups have been claiming the mosque was built on top of the Hindu temple allegedly demolished during the rule of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
Vishnu Shankar Jain, advocate for the Hindu right wing petitioner group, said, “We demanded that in the Shahi Idgah mosque, there are lots of signs and symbols, and to know the actual factual position, an actual advocate commissioner is required. The court has allowed our application.”
The opponents of the move against the mosque cite the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which maintains the religious status of any place of worship as it was on August 15, 1947 – when India got divided into India and Pakistan.
In 1968, both the temple side and the mosque side had inked an agreement to the effect that 10.9 acres from the total 13.37 acres would be of the temple’s property, while 2.5 acres would belong to the mosque.
The temple side now claims the entire tract of contested land – about 13.37 acres – belongs to it and the mosque should be removed.
In recent years disputes over the mosques built adjacent to Hindu holy sites have intensified with Hindu nationalists asserting the Muslim places of worship to be Hindu temples.
The order on the Shahi Idgah issue is the second temple-mosque dispute over the past months in which an Indian court has given its nod to a survey.
Earlier this year, another Indian court allowed a similar survey of the Gyanvyapi mosque in the city of Varanasi.
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