IAJ
ODI Star
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2008
- Runs
- 34,412
- Post of the Week
- 1
In repeat of a familiar pattern, the Madhya Pradesh High Court rules that the historic Kamal Maula mosque is a temple dedicated to a Hindu goddess.
For decades, the Kamal Maula mosque in Dhar, in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state, has been like a second home for 78-year-old Mohammad Rafiq.
Rafiq has been the muezzin, who calls Muslims to prayer, at the mosque for 50 years. Before him, his grandfather Hafiz Naziruddin used to lead the prayers even before India gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
But the mosque in the Bhojshala complex, a protected monument of archaeological importance, is out of bounds now for Rafiq and other Muslims in Dhar.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court, hearing a petition claiming a temple predated the mosque at the site, ruled on Friday that the medieval complex is a temple dedicated to a Hindu goddess.
On Sunday, the 13th-14th century monument was awash in saffron flags — associated with “Hindutva”, the far-right Hindu supremacist movement — as young men danced to religious tunes, filming the rituals on their phones. Local activists installed a temporary idol of the goddess as Hindu worshippers gathered in large numbers amid heavy police deployment.
The Kamal Maula mosque in the nondescript town of Dhar is not alone. Far-right Hindutva activists have made similar claims — that a given mosque was built atop a temple — across India, emboldened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rise to power in 2014.
Even the Taj Mahal, one of the world’s seven wonders, could not escape the Hindutva crusade to find temple origins beneath Islamic-era monuments. Though the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum rather than a mosque, its 17th-century Mughal roots have also made it a subject of dispute.
For millions of Muslims like Rafiq in India, this erasure of memory cuts deep. “Until last Friday, our mosque was ours; today it is not,” he said in a feeble voice. “I had never imagined in my dreams that something like this would happen.”
Under a 2003 agreement with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) — a government-run agency responsible for the protection of historical monuments — Hindus were allowed to visit the site every Tuesday, while Muslims were allowed to offer prayers on Fridays.
Now, the court’s ruling has declared the site a temple of Vagdevi, or the Goddess of Speech, allowing Hindus to worship at the site, and dismissing the Muslim community’s claim.
In its judgement, the court dismissed the petitions of the Muslim community, allowing them, however, to seek an alternative piece of land in the district to construct a mosque.
The court relied heavily on a survey of the monument by ASI two years ago. While the Hindu parties to the case hailed the verdict as historic, Muslims have pledged to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court.
“Scholars are looking for methodology, rigour, and conclusions that meet international scholarly standards. Politically-motivated and substandard surveys carry little weight,” said Audrey Truschke, a historian with a focus on the Indian subcontinent, referring to the ASI exercises.
“The current trend of targeting mosques in India is part of the entrenched Islamophobia of Hindu nationalism,” she told Al Jazeera.
“It is one of many ways for Hindu nationalists to harass, threaten, and harm Muslim communities. India’s ongoing campaigns to restrict freedom of religion for Muslims are appalling,” Truschke added.
In a formal gazetted notice, dated August 1935, reviewed by Al Jazeera, the then government officials wrote that there was no prohibition on Muslim prayers and it shall continue because the complex “is a mosque, and in the future also it shall remain a mosque”.
But the court did not accept the British-era notification, saying it predated the current laws.
The court also asked the Indian government to consider bringing back an idol of Vagdevi currently on display at the British Museum in London, as pleaded by the Hindu side, who claim that the idol belongs in the supposed temple on the disputed site.
Full article:
www.aljazeera.com
For decades, the Kamal Maula mosque in Dhar, in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state, has been like a second home for 78-year-old Mohammad Rafiq.
Rafiq has been the muezzin, who calls Muslims to prayer, at the mosque for 50 years. Before him, his grandfather Hafiz Naziruddin used to lead the prayers even before India gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
But the mosque in the Bhojshala complex, a protected monument of archaeological importance, is out of bounds now for Rafiq and other Muslims in Dhar.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court, hearing a petition claiming a temple predated the mosque at the site, ruled on Friday that the medieval complex is a temple dedicated to a Hindu goddess.
On Sunday, the 13th-14th century monument was awash in saffron flags — associated with “Hindutva”, the far-right Hindu supremacist movement — as young men danced to religious tunes, filming the rituals on their phones. Local activists installed a temporary idol of the goddess as Hindu worshippers gathered in large numbers amid heavy police deployment.
The Kamal Maula mosque in the nondescript town of Dhar is not alone. Far-right Hindutva activists have made similar claims — that a given mosque was built atop a temple — across India, emboldened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rise to power in 2014.
Even the Taj Mahal, one of the world’s seven wonders, could not escape the Hindutva crusade to find temple origins beneath Islamic-era monuments. Though the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum rather than a mosque, its 17th-century Mughal roots have also made it a subject of dispute.
For millions of Muslims like Rafiq in India, this erasure of memory cuts deep. “Until last Friday, our mosque was ours; today it is not,” he said in a feeble voice. “I had never imagined in my dreams that something like this would happen.”
‘Entrenched Islamophobia’
The site of the Kamal Maula mosque, or the so-called Bhojshala complex, has been disputed for decades, with the earliest Hindu nationalist claims made on the site in the late 1950s.Under a 2003 agreement with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) — a government-run agency responsible for the protection of historical monuments — Hindus were allowed to visit the site every Tuesday, while Muslims were allowed to offer prayers on Fridays.
Now, the court’s ruling has declared the site a temple of Vagdevi, or the Goddess of Speech, allowing Hindus to worship at the site, and dismissing the Muslim community’s claim.
In its judgement, the court dismissed the petitions of the Muslim community, allowing them, however, to seek an alternative piece of land in the district to construct a mosque.
The court relied heavily on a survey of the monument by ASI two years ago. While the Hindu parties to the case hailed the verdict as historic, Muslims have pledged to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court.
“Scholars are looking for methodology, rigour, and conclusions that meet international scholarly standards. Politically-motivated and substandard surveys carry little weight,” said Audrey Truschke, a historian with a focus on the Indian subcontinent, referring to the ASI exercises.
“The current trend of targeting mosques in India is part of the entrenched Islamophobia of Hindu nationalism,” she told Al Jazeera.
“It is one of many ways for Hindu nationalists to harass, threaten, and harm Muslim communities. India’s ongoing campaigns to restrict freedom of religion for Muslims are appalling,” Truschke added.
‘Opened the floodgates’
Advocates of the Muslim side and critics of the court’s ruling say the bench went an extra mile to award the site to Hindus.In a formal gazetted notice, dated August 1935, reviewed by Al Jazeera, the then government officials wrote that there was no prohibition on Muslim prayers and it shall continue because the complex “is a mosque, and in the future also it shall remain a mosque”.
But the court did not accept the British-era notification, saying it predated the current laws.
The court also asked the Indian government to consider bringing back an idol of Vagdevi currently on display at the British Museum in London, as pleaded by the Hindu side, who claim that the idol belongs in the supposed temple on the disputed site.
Full article:
‘Hindu order runs India’: Court declares another medieval mosque a temple
The Madhya Pradesh High Court rules that the historic Kamal Maula mosque is a temple dedicated to a Hindu goddess.
