Saffron leaders stake claim to more mosques in Uttar Pradesh

The number of mosques on which the saffron outfits stake claim, saying that they were temples earlier, continues to grow with each passing day in Uttar Pradesh.

A BJP leader was put under house arrest in Lucknow on Monday after he declared that he planned to perform 'jalabhishek' (offering of water) at a mosque claiming that it was in fact a Shiva Temple. Former national general secretary of BJP Yuva Morcha Abhijat Mishra, a resident of Hussainganj, on Monday morning, was denied leaving his home by the cops.

Mishra said that the mosque in question was a Shiva Temple, which had been 'demolished' by the Muslims a few years ago and converted into a mosque. ''More than 50 thousand temples had been demolished and converted into mosques in different parts of the country,'' he claimed.

Barely a couple of days back, Kanpur Mayor Pramila Pandey had claimed that around 124 temples were under the possession of the Muslims in the town. ''The ancient temples which are situated in Muslim dominated localities are in very poor condition.....many temples have no idols...they have been stolen or damaged....we will serve notices to the people who have illegally occupied the temples and opened their shops,'' she said.

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The Mayor said that all the ancient temples would be renovated.

On Friday a complaint was filed in Mathura court, which was hearing the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Mosque matter, seeking a ban on the 'namaz' (prayer) at the Begum ki Masjid inside the famous Agra Fort in Agra town and contending that several Hindu deities were buried under the stairs of the mosque.

The complainant Mahendra Pratap Singh and others claimed in their complaint that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who, according to them, had demolished the temple at the Sri Krishna Janambhoomi in Mathura, had buried the deities under the stairs of the mosque at the Agra Fort.

The court, however, refused to the accept the complaint and asked the complainant to give notice to the respondents, which included the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and some other government bodies, as required under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, which states that if there was a suit being initiated by the plaintiff against the government or a public officer, then the plaintiff must give a legal notice at least two months prior to the date of filing the suit. Agra Fort, a UNESCO world heritage site, was built during 1655-1573 by the Mughal kings.

The claim on Agra Fort comes amid the ongoing legal battle over the Gyanvapi Mosque, which was adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah Mosque, adjacent to the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura, and within days saffron outfits' claim that the historic 'Tile Wali Masjid' in Lucknow was in fact 'Luxman Tila'.