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Two Hindu lawyers filed two separate pleas in local courts in Mathura on Tuesday, one demanding that Muslims be restricted from offering namaz at the Shahi Eidgah and another asking it be sealed to ensure that no changes are made in the premises where Hindu petitioners claim religious symbols are present.
The mosque, which abuts the Sri Krishna Temple in Mathura, is part of a decades-old dispute, with some Hindu groups saying a part of the temple was demolished to build the mosque. Currently, nine petitions are pending before lower courts in Mathura on the subject.
Shailendra Singh, a Lucknow-based lawyer, filed a petition before the court of the district judge, Mathura, seeking permission to file the suit in representative capacity and to restrain Muslims from offering prayers at the Shahi Eidgah.
“We are of the belief that the Shahi Eidgah mosque has come up at the place where a temple existed. It was here Lord Krishna was born. We thus seek that Muslims be restrained by permanent injunction from offering prayers at the Shahi Eidgah mosque,” said Singh after moving the application.
“Since the structure has been constructed on the remains of a Hindu temple, it is akin to a temple and does not qualify the merit of a mosque,” he said.
A second application, to appoint a security officer to ensure no changes are made in the mosque premises was moved before the court of civil judge (senior division), Mathura, Jyoti Singh, by one of the petitioners in the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi title suit. The title suit involves some Hindu groups demanding that the 13.37 acre area of the mosque complex be transferred to the Hindu side.
After hearing the petitioner, the judge posted the application for hearing on July 1, the same day when the 2020 suit (Thakur Keshav Dev Maharaj and others versus Management Committee, Shahi Eidgah Mosque and others) will be heard.
“Much like the findings at Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, there are Hindu religious markings such as Om, Swastika and Sheshnaga (Hindu mythological serpent) within the Shahi Eidgah mosque that can prove it was originally a temple, which was demolished to construct a mosque,” said lawyer Mahendra Pratap Singh, the counsel for the petitioner Thakur Keshav Dev Ji Maharaj (the deity).
“We have moved the application seeking preventive measures to safeguard evidence as it is feared that they might be removed in June, when the courts observe summer vacation. Removal of evidence will change the character of property in suit,” Singh added.
Singh further said that the application also sought to seal the mosque, alleging it was originally the ‘garbh grah’ where Lord Krishna was born.
“This could be done by prohibiting movement on its (Shah Eidgah) premises, besides appointing a security officer to ensure that no changes are made in the mosque. For this, directions can be issued to district magistrate and SSP (Mathura) besides the commandant, Central Reserve police Force (CRPF), taking care of security of the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi premises,” said Singh.
Tanveer Ahmad, counsel for the management committee of the Shahi Eidgah mosque, however, blamed the petitioners for moving multiple applications, mostly not on the date fixed, without providing a copy of them.
“The case is fixed for arguments on maintainability of the case on July 1, 2022, and wary of its dismissal in court, the petitioners are filing misleading application to divert the attention and to cause delay in disposal of case,” said Ahmed.
“There is full-fledged security by CRPF in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court and thus no question arises of foul play within the property in suit as alleged by petitioners,” claimed Ahmed, adding that no copy of the application moved on Tuesday was provided to them.
“Besides, there are no signs of Hindu religion on Eidgah premises, as alleged by the petitioner. Baseless allegations have become a habit of the petitioner,” he alleged.
A suit was filed on December 23, 2020, on behalf of the deity (Lord Krishna) seeking removal of the Shahi Eidgah (mosque), adjacent to the Sri Krishna temple complex in Mathura, and transfer of 13.37-acre land to the deity.
The application challenging the maintainability of the ongoing suit is based on the provision laid in the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.
Shailendra Singh said he advocated a representative suit so that all pending cases on the issue of Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi (before Mathura court) could be heard together and sought a permanent injunction to restrain the managing committee and staff of Shahi Eidgah from entering the 13.37-acre premises and hand over possession of land after removal of the mosque.
Singh maintained that the mosque does not fulfil the pre-condition laid out in the Quran, which says a mosque should be built on an undisputed land having no mark of any other religion.
He filed this case on behalf of Bhagwan Sri Krishna Virajman at Katra Keshav Dev as friend and devotee of Lord Krishna. Other petitioners include lawyers from Delhi and Lucknow, besides six law students from Lucknow and Dehradun universities.
“We have filed the petition along with application under Section 92 read with Section 91 and Section 151 of the Civil Procedure Code, which provides that either advocate-general of the state or two or more persons with common intention can file application before district judge seeking permission to file suit in representative capacity,” said Shailendra Singh.
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