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The survey will be conducted in the same manner in which it has been done at the Gyanvapi Temple in Varanasi.
The order came on an application seeking a survey of the Masjid, contending that the land was part of the Shri Krishnajanmbhoomi and as such a place of worship for the Hindus. It has also been claimed that Shahi Eidgah Mosque was built on temple land during the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
The suit has sought the removal of the mosque, said to have been built in 1669-70 on 13.37-acres of land belonging to the Katra Keshav Dev temple, near the birthplace of Lord Krishna.
Case history
On September 24, 2020, Lucknow resident and advocate Ranjana Agnihotri and six others filed a plea to remove the 17th century Shahi Idgah mosque from the complex it shares with the Katra Keshav Dev Temple, close to the spot known as ‘Krishna Janmabhoomi’.
The petitioners filed the pleas under “next friend of Bhagwan Sri Krishna Virajman”.
The plea contended that the Masjid is constructed on a part of 13.37-acre land belonging to the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust.
The suit was rejected on September 30, 2020, as non-admissible. The civil judge had dismissed the plea stating that none of the petitioners were from Mathura and therefore had a valid stake in the matter.
The ruling was later overturned by the district court.
After the revision was filed in the district court, the arguments between both sides — Ranjana Agnihotri and her co-petitioners vs the Sunni Central Waqf Board and the Secretary of Shahi Idgah Masjid and two others — on the admissibility of the suit were concluded on May 5.
A decades-old controversy and a compromise
The Krishna Janmbhoomi temple is one of the most visited religious spots in India. It is believed to have been built around the prison cell in which Krishna was said to have been born, the temple has allegedly been built five times over.
It is believed to have been constructed in the 6th century BC.
Ownership of the 13.37 acres of land surrounding the Krishna Janmabhoomi where both the idgah and temple are built has been a hotly contested question for over eight decades.
At the start of the 20th century, the land was owned by the King of Varanasi. In 1935, the Allahabad High court upheld the ownership.
In 1944, the land was purchased by businessman Yugal Kishor Birla who went on to launch the Sri Krishnabhoomi Trust with the intention to build a Krishna temple in the area. In 1958, the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sangh took over the roles and responsibilities of the temple trust.
In 1964, the Sangh filed a civil lawsuit regarding ownership of the land.
In 1968, however, the temple trust and the Shahi Idgah mosque management committee reached an agreement, which stated that while the ownership of the land remained with the temple trust, the Trust Masjid Idgah had management rights to run the temple. This meant that the temple trust had no right to stake claims on the masjid land.
The 2020 civil suit has said that the agreement was “an illegal compromise”. Since 2020, at least a dozen cases have been filed in the courts of Mathura on the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi issue.
(With inputs from agencies)
Watch Krishna Janmabhoomi case: Allahabad high court approves survey of Mathura’s Shahi Idgah Mosque
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