Hindu Sena demands ASI survey of Jama Masjid Delhi
On Tuesday, Vishnu Gupta, the national president of the Hindutva group, Hindu Sena, sent a letter to the Director General Archaeological Survey of India, demanding a survey of historic mosque in the national capital, Jama Masjid.
The letter claims that the historic Jama Masjid in Delhi was constructed after the demolition of hundreds of temples in Jodhpur and Udaipur, using the remains of those temples.
The letter alleged that the remains of temples, including the idols of deities, were placed on the stairs of the mosque to “humiliate” the Hindus, by the Mughal “invader Aurangzeb.”
According to his letter, “it is harming my religious sentiments and right to perform worship of the deities buried under the stairs.”
This letter comes amid the ongoing controversies surrounding the judicial decision on the survey of mosques by weakening the Places of Worship Act, of 1991, which was intended to provide closure to such Hindutva campaigns against mosques.
His statement in the letter, “ASI is assigned enough to survey such sites to ascertain reality/actuality behind such sites”, highlights the recent criticism of the judiciary for opening the floodgates of the Places of Worship Act of 1991, by allowing the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a scientific survey of mosques and groups with Hindutva inclinations to claim the existence of temples beneath mosques.
Last month, in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district, a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid sparked tensions, leading to protests, clashes with police, and the killing of six Muslim youths as police opened fire on demonstrators resisting the survey.
Previously also, Vishnu Gupta filed a petition demanding the survey of Ajmer Sharif Dargah, to substantiate his claim that the shrine was originally a Shiva temple.
