Madhya Pradesh HC gives nod for ASI survey of Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex

The petitioners in the case, a group called the Hindu Front for Justice, have argued that Kamal Maula Mosque was constructed during the reign of Alauddin Khilji between the 13th and 14th centuries by “destroying and dismantling ancient structures of previously constructed Hindu temples”.

Ordering a complete scientific investigation, survey, and excavation of the Bhojshala complex, a Bench of Justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Devnarayan Mishra said the “nature and character of the whole monument, admittedly maintained by the Central government, needs to be demystified and freed from the shackles of confusion”. It said that because of the “mystery” surrounding the exact “nature, form and character” of the complex, “the ghost of controversies has assumed such mammoth proportions…”

The court ordered the ASI to constitute an expert committee that will “complete scientific investigation, survey and excavation, through adoption of latest methods and techniques” and submit the report within six weeks.

“A detailed scientific investigation (should) be conducted by adopting carbon dating method for ascertaining the age, life of various structures both above and beneath the ground; (and of) permanent, movable and immovable structures both beneath as well as above the ground, constituting the walls, pillars, floors, surfaces, upper top, (and) sanctum sanctorum of the entire complex,” the court said.

The ASI has also been ordered to “unlock and open the locked/sealed rooms, halls of the whole complex and prepare a complete inventory of each and every artefact, idol, deity, or any structure, and subject them to scientific investigation”.

Dhar’s Shahar Qazi (Muslim community’s local religious head) Waqar Sadiq said that the mosque’s management would move the Supreme Court against the HC ruling.

Senior advocate Ajay Bagadia, who appeared on behalf of the Muslim side, submitted that a similar issue had been brought in 2003 and that it had been dismissed by the Jabalpur Bench of the High Court.

However, Assistant Solicitor General Himanshu Joshi, who appeared for the ASI, told the court that in the 2003 case, the ASI “did not take into consideration the previously prepared report in the year 1902-03 under the aegis of the then existing expert body”, which “clearly pointed out the pre-existence of Bhojshala Temple of Vagdevi and stated the same to be the important Gurukul and temple of vedic learning and studies.”

“This report also stated that the said temple was razed down and dismantled, defaced by the Islamic invaders, who ruled the country later to construct the mosque therein,” Joshi told the court, adding, “However, to separate the grain from the chaff, it is the specific submission and stand of the ASI that a fresh survey would clear the entire dust around the whole status of the complex…”

Bagadia argued that the ASI was “taking a particular stand under the influence and pressure of the Government” and that the court should “pierce through the said obvious reasons of such a partisan stand in favour of the existence of Bhojshala Vagdevi Temple against the interests of Muslims, who have been praying on the situs and offering Namaaz for years.”

The state government told the court that it supported the plea of the petitioners to “clear the misunderstanding, which has long been the reason for communal strife between both the communities”.

Vishnu Jain, who represented the petitioners, argued that a survey is a statutory duty that the ASI “ought to have performed long back at the inception, when the mystery and confusion about the true character of Bhojshala Saraswati Temple cum Maulana Kamal Maula Mosque arose, leading to disputes about its true status.”