Targeting historic mosques and other religious sites of worship is a key component of the RSS-BJP’s communal agenda, as it lacks any positive slogan in its Hindutva ideology to galvanise the profoundly caste-ridden society. What had happened in UP’s Sambhal town was not mere a coincidence but a part of a larger plot. Within a week of Sambhal court order, another court in Ajmer ordered the survey of 800-year old Dargah HazratKhawja Moinuddin Chisti which has been dubbed by Hindu Sena litigants as the Sankatmochan Mahadev Temple.
Former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud’s decision to permit the survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi last year is widely seen as a catalyst for the recent wave of attacks on Muslim religious sites.
By allowing the survey, Justice Chandrachud set a precedent on August 5, 2023, when he remarked that “the ascertainment of the religious character of the place of worship is not expressly barred.” This statement implied that the “original character” of a structure could be examined, even if the law prevented its conversion. This interpretation has since fuelled a series of legal and social actions targeting the legitimacy of various religious monuments, contributing to heightened communal tensions.
In his strong critique of the apex court decision, Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran said, “The Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Gyanvapi survey disregarded the principles established in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi ownership case. This opened the floodgates for sectarian elements to launch a campaign of identifying temples beneath ancient mosques.”
Addressing a Constitution Day gathering organised by the South Asian Minorities Lawyers Association (SAMLA) in collaboration with the India Islamic Cultural Centre, Ramachandran highlighted how the apex court’s decision to permit the survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi last year has led to a surge in divisive actions.
Referring to the disputed sites in Varanasi and Mathura, Ramachandran lamented the judiciary’s failure to uphold the Religious Places Act of 1991, which mandates the maintenance of the status quo of all religious places as they existed in 1947. “Had this law been respected, the current tensions surrounding ancient mosques would not have arisen,” he asserted.
In order to avoid conflicts and preserve the religious nature of places of worship as they were on August 15, 1947, the Places of Worship Act, 1991 was designed. But for the past ten years, the Act has been the main source of contention. District courts have issued a number of rulings permitting “surveys” of places of worship, particularly mosques, on the grounds that there was previously a temple or other religious building.
In the Ayodhya title dispute, the Supreme Court had asserted, “The Places of Worship Act is intrinsically related to the obligations of a secular state… and is an affirmation of the solemn duty which was cast upon the State to preserve and protect the equality of all faiths as an essential constitutional value, a norm which has the status of being a basic feature of the Constitution.”
Political leaders also slammed the former chief justice for last year’s ruling. Former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti referred to the notice claiming that a former chief justice of India had “opened the Pandora’s box” through his ruling, “sparking a contentious debate about minority religious places”.
In a post on X, she said, “Despite a Supreme Court ruling that the status quo should be maintained as it existed in 1947, his judgement has paved the way for surveys of these sites potentially leading to increased tension between Hindus and Muslims,” she said, claiming that recent communal violence in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, was “reminiscent of the partition days”.
“First mosques and now Muslim shrines like Ajmer Sharif are being targeted which can result in further bloodshed,” she said. “The question remains – who will take responsibility for perpetuating this communal violence reminiscent of the partition days?”
Expressing disbelief at the litigation on Ajmer Dargah, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) president Sajad Lone said the civil suit “in pursuit of a temple supposedly hidden somewhere in the Ajmer Dargah Sharif” is “yet another shocker”.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) also expressed deep concern and anguish over the recent spate of claims on mosques and dargahs in various courts across the country.
Dr.S.Q.R. Ilyas, National Spokesperson for AIMPLB said that such claims are a blatant mockery of law and the Constitution, especially in light of existence of the Places of Worship Act, 1991. However, it is deeply unfortunate and shameful that after the claims on Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, ShahiEidgah in Mathura, Bhojshala Mosque in Madhya Pradesh, TeeleWali Masjid in Lucknow, and Sambhal’s Jama Masjid, a claim has now been made on the historic Ajmer Dargah. Despite the law, the court has accepted Vishnu Gupta’s petition for hearing and issued notices to the parties. The petitioner alleges that the land of the dargah was originally a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, where worship and rituals like JalAbhishek were performed.
In Sambhal, it is strange that such a ‘survey’ was ordered on the very first day of the hearing, i.e., without even considering the grounds of the suit’s maintainability. The order was implemented before other parties had an opportunity to challenge it.
Five persons were killed and several injured in the police firing as violence erupted over the survey of the Jama Masjid for the second time in Sambhal on Nov. 24.
Samajwadi Party (SP) president and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said the Sambhal violence was orchestrated to divert attention from heavy rigging of bye- elections in the state. He also sought to know whether “BJP activists, raising slogans, were accompanying the survey team” during its second visit to the Jama Masjid in Sambhal.
Yadav also urged the Supreme Court to take cognisance of allegations that the Uttar Pradesh Police threatened the kin of a Sambhal violence victim and took their thumb impression on a blank piece of paper.
In a post on X, Yadav attached a media report in which the family members of Naeem, one of the five killed in the violence, claimed that on the night of 25 November – a day after violence erupted in Sambhal – around 20 policemen came to their house and warned them against talking to the media.
Tasleem, Naeem’s brother, also claimed in the report that the police had taken an impression of his thumb on a blank sheet of paper. According to Tasleem, he was illiterate and worried about what the police might write on the blank piece of paper that had his thumbprint on it.
“Threatening someone and taking their thumb impression on a blank paper is also a crime. The honourable Supreme Court should take immediate cognisance and punish all those responsible for this incident by taking punitive action against the guilty government and administration,” Yadav said in his post in Hindi.
“If we examine the sequence of events in Sambhal, on 19 November, the court issued an order sanctioning the mosque survey. During the first survey, neither members of the Muslim community nor any Sambhal residents raised objections.
“I am perplexed about the rationale behind conducting a subsequent survey. If another survey was deemed necessary, the local administration should have consulted and engaged with the stakeholders beforehand. They failed to initiate any dialogue with the authorities concerned,” the former chief minister said.
He asked, “Whether the BJP activists were not accompanying the survey team. The administration is concealing the reality. All those who were accompanying the survey team were chanting slogans. Was the administration’s eye deliberately shut and that led to riot and deaths?”
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also slammed the BJP for creating a rift between Hindus and Muslims.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, “The biased and hasty attitude of the state government on the recent dispute in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, is extremely unfortunate. I express my deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the violence and firing.”
“The BJP’s use of power to create a rift and discrimination between Hindu-Muslim communities is neither in the interest of the state nor the country. I request the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter as soon as possible and do justice,” Gandhi said.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said inciting communal hatred and driving a wedge between two communities – is the DNA of BJP-RSS ! On one hand, there is an empty slogan of “Ek Hai Toh SAFE Hain” – on the other hand, they divide communities ! On one hand, there is a lie of “SabkaSaath- Sabka Vishwas” that has been going on for a decade; on the other hand, the minority community is constantly being targeted in Uttar Pradesh.
Modi-Yogi ‘double assault’ governments, which consider the minority community as second-class citizens, hurriedly got a petition filed in court. It is public knowledge that the court ordered an immediate survey without hearing the other side, Khera said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on the plea of the management committee of Sambhal’s Jama Masjid has directed the Sambahl trial court not to pass any order related to the survey of the mosque while directing the Uttar Pradesh government to maintain peace and harmony in the violence-hit town.