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Hindu outfit seeks excavation at Agra mosque
It said that idols of Krishna were brought to Agra by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who allegedly demolished the Krishna Janmbhoomi temple in Mathura in 1670.
A little-known Hindu outfit has asked an Agra court to order the excavation of the stairs of a mosque that stands on the Agra Fort premises, arguing that there were idols of Lord Krishna buried under the structure that needed to be recovered.
The petition by Sri Krishna Janmbhoomi Sanrakshit Sewa Trust, through its president Piyush Pandey of Agra and two others, was filed on May 11 in Court of Civil Judge Senior Division Agra.
It said that idols of Krishna were brought to Agra by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who allegedly demolished the Krishna Janmbhoomi temple in Mathura in 1670. The Agra Fort – a Unesco world heritage site -- was built in 1565 and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Sri Krishna Janmbhoomi Sanrakshit Sewa Trust was formed in the month of May.
The intezamia (management) committee of the Shahi Masjid, Agra Fort, Agra; Chhoti Masjid Diwan-e-Khaas Jahanara Begum Masjid, Agra Fort; UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and Sri Krishna Janmsthan Sewa Sansthan which looks after Sri Krishna Janmbhoomi under guidance of Sri Krishna Janmbhoomi Trust made parties to the suit. They are seeking excavation at the mosque known as Choti Masjid or Begum Sahiba Mosque at Diwan Khas at the Agra Fort.
“These parties are issued summons by the court and will appear on May 31, the next date fixed in the court of the judge, small causes/civil judge (senior division), Agra. We have not made the Archaeological Survey of India a party to the suit although the monument is conserved by ASI but will implead them at a later stage, if required, after obtaining court orders,” said Brajendra Rawat, the counsel for the petitioners.
“We have sought relief from court for removing these idols from the steps and bringing them back to Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura,” said Deoki Nandan Thakur, Deoki Nandan is religious preacher who had raised the issue and constituted the body for purpose.
The petitioner also moved an application seeking a stay on movement on the steps at Begum Jahan Arah or Choti Masjid, but the court declined to grant a stay and fixed May 31 as the next date of hearing.
The fresh case again underlines the need for the Supreme Court to take a call on the application of the 1991 Places of Worship Act, which locks the religious character of holy sites as they existed on August 15, 1947 (with the exception of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute). Despite the law being in a place, a flurry of cases have been filed in Agra, Mathura and Varanasi courts over the past few years by Hindu groups and individuals laying claim to what they say are Hindu sites damaged by medieval emperors. This will continue to be the case until the court weighs in on whether the 1991 law bars such litigation.
“I, along with Dhirendra Shastri from Bagheshwar Dham, had made an appeal in Bhopal on April 8 to Muslim brother(s) to present an example of bhaichara (brotherhood) in the spirit of Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb (spirit of communal harmony) to allow the digging of stairs at the mosque in Agra where idols of Krishna are buried which are insulted every day by those walking over those stairs,” Thakur said.
“There was total silence on the part of Muslim clerics and leaders and thus we were constrained to seek legal remedy by court and filed a petition in Agra. The court has issued notices in the case and opposite parties are asked to present their version by May 31,” Thakur added.
Chairperson of local Islamia agency Dr Mohd Zahid said the Agra mosque comes under the purview of ASI. “We have not yet received any information about the case in Agra court,” he told HT.
Chief superintendent of ASI, Agra, RK Patel refused to comment as the ASI has not been made party in the case.
Thakur said Aurangzeb demolished the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura in 1670, created a mosque on the temple land and shifted the idols to Agra for burial under the stairs of the mosque.
A clutch of similar petitions are in various stages at lower courts in Varanasi and Mathura, demanding worshipping rights inside mosques. The Supreme Court is set to hear pleas on 1991 law later this year. The government is yet to tell the court whether it plans to review the law, or defend it.
