Character of religious place can't be changed: Owaisi on Sambhal row

Aurangabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has said if the petition over a Mughal-era mosque at Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh had prayed for the right to access, then why a court there ordered a survey of the structure.

Targeting the ruling BJP, Owaisi said such issues weaken the country, which is facing inflation, unemployment, farmer suicides and other issues.

On November 19, a court of civil judge (senior division) of Sambhal passed an ex-parte order for a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid by an advocate commissioner, after taking note of a plea of the Hindu side claiming the mosque was built by Mughal emperor Babur in 1526 after demolishing a temple.

On November 24, violence gripped the area during the court-ordered survey of the mosque, killing four persons and injuring many others.

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a Sambhal trial court to halt proceedings in the case over the Shahi Jama Masjid and its survey at Chandausi while directing the UP government to maintain peace and harmony in the violence-hit town.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday over the Sambhal incident, Owaisi said, "If we read the petition, we find the prayer in it is right to access. If this is so, why did the court order the survey, which is wrong. If they need access, who stops them from going and sitting in the mosque?"

"If according to the Places of Worship Act, the character and nature (of a religious place) can't



be changed, then why still the survey was ordered?" the Hyderabad MP asked.

Notably, a court recently also admitted a petition seeking to declare the Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan as a temple.

Several opposition leaders have raised serious concerns over the controversy on the Ajmer Dargah, which comes close on the heels of similar claims made regarding the Sambhal mosque in UP.

Asked about claims over the shrine in Ajmer, Owaisi said the dargah exists for 800 years and (Sufi poet) Amir Khusro had also mentioned about it dargah in his book.

"Now they say that it is not a dargah. If this is so, where is this going to stop? Even prime ministers send 'chadar' to this dargah during 'Urs'. What will the Modi government say when they send the chadar every year?" he sought to know.

"If the Buddha and Jain community people go to court (in such a manner), they will also claim (some) places. So, an Act was brought in 1991 that the nature of a religious place will not be changed and it will remain as it was on August 15, 1947," he said.

Owaisi said such issues weaken the country and BJP leaders should stop going this.

"There are problems like inflation, unemployment, farmer suicides, China becoming powerful. But they put the people at work for this (survey of religious places). I earlier said after the judgement in the Babri case that more such incidents may pop up now," he said.