BHOPAL: A day after the Madhya Pradesh High Court held that the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar district is a Saraswati Temple, members of various Hindu groups and committees offered flowers and prayers inside the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected complex on Saturday.
Members of Hindu organisations, including veteran leaders Gopal Sharma and Ashok Jain, who have for decades demanded that the site be declared as Bhojshala-Maa Vagdevi (Saraswati) Temple, offered flowers at the complex, particularly near the Yagna Kund and the traditional prayer spots where rituals are conducted every Tuesday and during Basant Panchami.
Subsequently, devotees also recited the Hanuman Chalisa, followed by women devotees offering prayers amid heavy deployment of police and RAF personnel. After the darshan, several devotees said they were able to worship without hindrance after many years.
Gopal Sharma, convener of the Bhojshala Mukti Yagya Samiti, said, “Every particle of Bhojshala indicates that it is a temple. The Muslims have complete freedom to go to the Supreme Court, but Bhojshala was a temple, is a temple, and will always remain a temple.”
Meanwhile, legal developments continue around the case. The Muslim and Jain sides are reportedly preparing to challenge the May 15 Madhya Pradesh High Court order, while the Hindu Front for Justice (HFJ), the prime Hindu petitioner in the matter before the MPHC, has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court seeking that no adverse order be passed without hearing their side.
On Friday, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, comprising Justices V K Shukla and Alok Awasthi, ruled that the disputed complex is a Saraswati Temple of Hindus, thereby granting the right to worship there, and partially quashed the earlier arrangement that allowed Muslims to offer namaz every Friday.
Since April 2003, under an Archaeological Survey of India order, Muslims had been offering prayers every Friday, while Hindus were allowed worship every Tuesday and on Basant Panchami at the site.
The court also observed that the state government may consider allotting land in Dhar district to Muslims for constructing a mosque, while the Centre may consider representations to bring back the idol of Maa Vagdevi (Saraswati) from a museum in London and reinstall it at Bhojshala in Dhar district.
Welcoming the verdict, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said, “The directive to the central government to consider bringing the idol of Maa Vagdevi back from the UK to India is commendable. The state government will also make necessary efforts in this direction. The dignity of Bhojshala will be further strengthened under the protection and management of the ASI, and the right of devotees to perform worship will be ensured.”
The High Court also dismissed petitions filed by Muslim and Jain sides. Jain petitioners had argued that the site was linked to Jain heritage and that the idol in the British Museum was of Ambika, but the court rejected the claim, stating that historical and ASI surveys did not support any assertion that the site was a Jain temple.
The court observed, “None of the historical, archaeological and ASI surveys indicate that the disputed area was a Jain Temple… Whether the idol is of Saraswati or of Ambika would not render much assistance to his submission that the disputed area was a Jain temple as we held that no material has been placed before us either by way of historical literature, architectural features or in ASI survey suggesting that the disputed area was a Jain temple.”