After the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday declared the disputed Bhojshala temple-Kamal Mula mosque complex in Dhar district a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, the Hindu side said it would start exercising its right to worship at the site.
Speaking after the ruling, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain said the immediate focus would be on holding worship at the site while also preparing for further legal proceedings in the Supreme Court.
“We will worship in the building in question. We will exercise our fundamental rights to worship in the building in question in line with Section 25, as well as Section 16 of the ASI Act, 1958,” he told NDTV.
What did the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court say?
The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, in a 242-page judgment by Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi, held that the disputed Bhoshala Mosque-Kamal Maula temple complex in Dhar district is a temple of Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati). The court also directed the government to provide separate land for Muslims to build a mosque.
Read also | The site of Dhar’s Bhojshala is the Saraswati Temple, governed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court
The court ruled that the disputed site remained a protected monument under the Ancient Monuments, Archaeological Sites and Monuments Act, 1958, since March 18, 1904. It also set aside parts of the Archaeological Survey of India order of April 7, 2003 which restricted Hindu worship while allowing Muslims to offer prayers at the building.
“The religious character of the disputed area of Bhoshala complex and Kamal Maula Mosque is considered to be a Bhoshala with a temple to Goddess Vajdevi (Saraswati),” the court said in its ruling.
The Hindu side describes the ruling as historic
Reacting to the ruling, Jain termed the order a “landmark judgement” and said the court recognized the Bhoshala complex as the property of the Raja of Bhoj.
Read also | Ayodhya 2.0: Bhojshala Hindu temple, MP HC rules; He cites the principles of the Supreme Council in adjudicating the noon dispute
“The Indore High Court has delivered a landmark judgement, partially quashing the ISI order dated April 7, 2003. Moreover, the court granted the Hindu side the right to worship and recognized that the Bhoshala complex belongs to Raja Bhoj,” news agency ANI quoted Jain as saying.
Jain also pointed out the demand for the return of the idol, which is currently in a museum in London. According to him, the court ordered the government to consider the request while allowing the Islamic side to present its views before the authorities.
“With regard to our demand to return the statue currently in a London museum, the court directed the government to consider this request; the court also noted that the Muslim side is free to present its views before the government as well. In addition, the court asked the government to consider allocating alternative land to the Muslim side,” he said.
Read also | The Muslim claim is not the only one that was rejected in the HC’s Bhojshala ruling on the ‘Hindu temple’.
He added that the court canceled the previous arrangement that allowed prayers at the site.
“The court has given us the right to perform worship rituals and directed the government to supervise the management of the site. The earlier order of the ASI, which granted the right to perform prayers, has been completely set aside and from now on, only Hindu worship will take place there,” Jain said.
Owaisi criticizes the ruling
The ruling also drew criticism from Asaduddin Owaisi, who said the ruling did not comply with constitutional principles and likened it to the dispute between Babri Masjid and Ram Mandir.
Speaking in Hyderabad, the AIMIM president said the ruling “opened the floodgates” for similar allegations related to religious sites.
“This ruling is not in keeping with constitutional values. The ruling on the dispute between Babri Masjid and Ram Mandir gave priority to one religion while effectively undermining the rights of worship of others. Moreover, this ruling has opened a floodgate. Tomorrow, anyone can come forward to challenge the sanctity of various places of worship,” he said as per an ANI report.
Owaisi also questioned the interpretation of the Places of Worship Law in light of the recent ruling.
“This is particularly worrying given that the Supreme Court itself, in the Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir judgment, emphasized the importance of the Places of Worship Act, linking it to the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution, a principle that the court seems to have completely ignored today. The Places of Worship Act has turned into a mere mockery,” he told reporters.
Referring again to the Ayodhya judgment, Owaisi said: “This judgment turns out to be quite similar to the Babri Masjid case. In the Babri Masjid case, the court had stated that Muslims do not own the site. But in this case, I had possession even today.”
(With inputs from Annie)
