BADAUN’S JAMA MASJID, MATHURA’S MEENA MASJID NEW TARGETS
The historic Jama Masjid of Badaun has attracted controversy with right-wing men claiming it to be a Neel Kanth Mahadeva temple. A local court in Badaun has issued notices to the parties concerned on a petition filed by one Mukesh Patel who claims to be the state convener of the All India Hindu Mahasabha. The petitioner has claimed that the Jama Masjid complex in Badaun was once a fort of the Hindu king Mahipal. The mosque, according to the petition, was built by demolishing an ancient temple of Neel Kanth Mahadeva by Muslim ruler Shamsuddin Altamash. Recorded history says that the Badaun Jama Masjid was built by Altamash, also called Iltutmish, on his daughter Razia Sultana’s birthday. The mosque is called Azimusshan Jama Masjid.
Meanwhile, a petition has been filed at a Mathura court seeking removal of yet another mosque, the Meena Masjid, belonging to the Mughal era. The petitioner has claimed that the mosque was built on a part of the Thakur Keshav Dev Ji temple, on the east side of the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi complex. The suit has been filed by Dinesh Sharma, national treasurer of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM), as a devotee of Lord Krishna and as his ‘Vaad Mitra’ (friend of the suit). The suit has been registered in the court of civil judge (senior division) Mathura, Jyoti Singh. Several petitions have already been filed in various Mathura courts.
According to the Places of Worship Act 1991, the status of a religious place as it existed on August 15, 1947, cannot be altered. The only exception was the Babri Masjid because a court case was going on in the matter since the British days.
OVER 30% OF DETAINEES IN INDIAN PRISONS ARE MUSLIMS
In 2021, over 30% of all detainees in Indian prisons were Muslims even though the community’s share in the population is only 14.2% (as of 2011). Indian jails host four types of prisoners – convicts (persons found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court), undertrials (currently on trial in a court of law), detainees (persons held lawfully in custody), and those who do not belong to any of these three categories and who comprise a small share of the total number of prisoners. Notably, in Assam, 61% of the convicts and 49% of the undertrials were Muslims, while the population share of the community in the State was 34%. Among States with a relatively high number of detainees, the share of Muslim detainees was notably disproportionate to the population share in Gujarat, U.P., Haryana and J&K U.T.
The total number of detainees was relatively high in J&K U.T., U.P., Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and Nagaland. Of these the Muslim share was notably disproportionate to the population share in Gujarat, U.P., Haryana and J&K U.T.
OFFICER WHO PROBED ISHRAT JAHAN ENCOUNTER DISMISSED, MOVES SC
Satish Chandra Verma, a senior IPS officer who had assisted the CBI in its investigation into the alleged fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan in Gujarat, was dismissed from the service on August 30, a month before his scheduled retirement on September 30. However, the Delhi High Court, while hearing a plea by Verma, directed the Union Home Ministry not to implement the dismissal order till September 19 so that the 1986-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer could approach a higher court to get relief. If the dismissal of Verma comes into effect, he will not be entitled to pension and other benefits. The senior police officer was last posted as inspector general with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Tamil Nadu. Verma has moved the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court allowed the home ministry to take action against him in the wake of a departmental inquiry that proved the charges against him, including interacting “with public media” when he was chief vigilance officer of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation, Shillong.
180-KM MARCH TO PROTEST REMISSION OF 11 CONVICTS
Under the banner of ‘Hindu Muslim Ekta Samiti’, a group of social activists has planned to take out a ‘padyatra’ (foot march) from Randhikpur in Dahod district of Gujarat to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to protest the release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case of gang rape and brutal murders. The 11 convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment were released from a jail in Godhra on August 15 after they were granted remission by the Gujarat government. According to organising committee member Kalim Siddique, social activist Sandeep Pandey and MLA Jignesh Mevani along with 25 others, who belong to various rights organisations, will participate in the 180-kilometre-long march between September 26 and October 4. There was need to speak out “so that humanity survives, so that moral values and ethical standards are respected, so that innocent people feel safe and criminals are discouraged”, the group said, according to the report. The release of the convicts is a matter of shame in a country that is identified the world over for its spirituality and the values and virtues of Mahatma Gandhi, the group said in a release.
PROMINENT SCHOLARS AMONG 7 ARRESTED UNDER PSA IN KASHMIR
Seven scholars, including two prominent religious scholars, were arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA) in the past 24 hours in the Kashmir Valley, a report said on September 15. The Act allows preventive detention of up to two years without trial. Those arrested include Moulana Abdul Rasheed Dawoodi, patron, Tehreek-e-Soutul Awliya; and Moulana Mushtaq Ahmad Veeri, a prominent figure of the Jamiat-Ahle Hadees. Preliminary reports suggested that the Islamic religious scholars were shifted from the Kashmir Valley to a Jammu jail. Two arrested prominent scholars of the banned JeI are said to be Fahim Ramzan and Gazi Moinudin. Abdul Majeed Dar Almadni, also affiliated to the Jamiat-Ahle Hadees, was also detained.
TABASSUM KHAN SUSPENDED FOR URDU SIGNBOARDS AT HOSPITALS
The Uttar Pradesh government has suspended the Joint Director (Health), who had issued an order directing all the Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) to ensure that signboards/nameplates at all health facilities in the state, were written in Urdu as well. Joint Director (Health), Tabassum Khan had been suspended on charges of dereliction of duty. “The procedure for issuing the government order was not followed by her. The order directing CMOs to ensure that signboards and nameplates at government hospitals were written in Urdu also was issued by her without informing senior officers,” he said. In the order issued on September 1, Khan said that one Mohammad Haroon of Unnao had complained that many government departments were skipping Urdu on signages despite it being the second official language of the state.
126 CATTLE DIE, 25 DISTRICTS AFFECTED BY LUMPY VIRUS IN M’RASHTRA
“Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) has been rapidly spreading all throughout the Maharashtra state. It is a cutaneous viral disease of the bovines. This disease is not transmitted to human beings either from animals or through cow milk,” the animal husbandry department release stated. In the release, IAS officer, Sachindra Pratap Singh appealed on behalf of the government, “Although the disease has been spreading, the spread is limited to cows and bullocks and is not zoonotic. Strict action will be undertaken in case of spreading rumours on social media.” According to the animal husbandry department, a fund of ₹ 1 crore per district has been made available through DPC for the purchase of medicines needed in the treatment of the disease. An honorarium of ₹ 3 per vaccination has also been admissible to the vaccinators and interns of the Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (MAFSU).