Delhi Court defers verdict on pleas seeking right to worship for Hindus & Jains on Qutub Minar

|HT|

A Delhi court on Thursday deferred its verdict on the pleas seeking restoration of the right to worship for Hindus and Jains at the Quwwat-Ul-Islam mosque on Qutub Minar premises, saying a fresh application has been filed in the case. On May 24, the court reserved its order as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) submitted the 12th-century monument and a World Heritage Site is not a place for prayers, nor can it be revived as one under the law. The court took on record the ASI’s objections to the lawsuits and said it will pronounce the verdict on June 9 (Thursday) while wondering whether the petitioners could assert any legal or fundamental right to worship, assuming 27 temples existed about 800 years back.

“On a lighter note, the deity has survived for the last 800 years without worship. Let him survive like that,” additional district judge Nikhil Chopra told advocate Hari Shankar Jain, one of the petitioners in the case, on May 24. Chopra sought a legal argument to substantiate whether there is any denial of a right to the petitioners if a status quo exists in the Qutub Minar complex. “Even if assuming there is an admission that it [Hindu and Jain religious structures] was demolished and the structure was raised at that spot...assuming it was not used by Muslims as a mosque, the question which is more important is can you now claim it to be restored on what basis?”

In an affidavit, ASI opposed the pleas for the revival of worship. It argued no community has worshipped at Qutub Minar or anywhere inside the complex since the time it has been a protected monument. “Fundamental right cannot be availed in violation of any status of the land. The basic principle of protection/conservation is not to allow starting of any new practice in a monument declared and notified as a protected one,” the ASI told the court. ASI said Qutub Minar has been a protected monument since 1914. It added therefore it comes under the protection of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

ASI’s reply was filed in response to Jain and Ranjana Agnihotri’s petition filed on behalf of Jain tirthankar Rishabh Dev and Hindu god Vishnu. The petition cited a short history purportedly displayed by ASI which, according to the plea, narrates how 27 temples were demolished and the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque was raised by reusing the material.

The petitioners urged the court to direct the Centre to create a trust for managing the temples that should be restored at the disputed site, and hand over management of the temples to it. They claimed that Qutub Minar premises has “clear pictures of Hindu Gods and deities like Shri Ganesh, Vishnu and Yaksha” and several symbols like kalash and sacred lotus, along with temple wells, which suggest a “Hindu origin of the building”. In November, a civil judge dismissed the suit, saying that wrongs of the past cannot be used as the instruments to oppress in the present and future. But the plaintiffs filed appeals against the order before the additional district court. A notice was issued in February to the Centre and ASI.

On May 24, Chopra observed the fundamental question in the pleas is about the “character of the monument” since ASI has argued that the character of the mosque was frozen after it came under the protection of the law. The petitioners claimed that the religious character must be considered since this was a temple.

Jain argued the mosque was constructed after demolishing 27 temples, and in the last 800 years, no prayers have been offered at the mosque. On April 13, the court directed ASI not to remove the two idols of Ganesha till further directions.

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