Mughals demolished temples, Hindus have right to seek mosque survey: Union minister Giriraj Singh on Ajmer dargah suit

New Delhi: Hindus have the right to approach courts and seek survey of mosques because it is a truth that many of them were built on ruins of temples demolished by Mughal invaders, Union minister Giriraj Singh said on Thursday.

He also said Hindus would not have to knock on the courts' doors seeking relief had former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru taken steps to end such disputes after Independence.

"What is the problem in it? It's a truth that the Mughal invaders had demolished our temples… A drive to build mosques on the (ruins of) temples had been carried out by the invaders," he told reporters in Parliament complex when asked for comment on a petition filed in a lower court seeking a survey of the Ajmer Sharif dargah in Rajasthan.

"And now, if you ask me that about how many mosques I would say so. Then I will say the Congress government was doing appeasement," he said.

Had Nehru taken steps to end such disputes after Independence, "we would not have needed to file a petition in the courts today", Singh further said.

On Wednesday, a local court in Ajmer, known the world over as home of the dargah visited by thousands of devotees cutting across religious divides every day, issued notices to the dargah committee, Union Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Archaeological Survey of India on the plea seeking to declare the shrine a temple.

The notice came days after four people were killed in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh in violence following a local court ordering survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid which, the petitioners said, was built after destroying an old temple.

"Conduct of a survey is the legal right," Singh further said and accused the opposition parties of trying to create a controversy over the directive.

The Union minister also slammed the Samajwadi Party over its MP Ram Gopal Yadav calling petitions seeking survey of the dargah and that of the Sambhal mosque a "conspiracy".

"It is in the DNA of Ram Gopal's party... They talk about firing at Hindus, snatching their rights. Mulayam Singh Yadav had done this when he was chief minister (of Uttar Pradesh). They want to make Muslims happy for votes," he said and asked, "Where will the Hindus go?" Singh alleged that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi were trying to "suppress Hindus".

"They still have time to learn a lesson. The mood of the country is not in their favour," he added.

Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav had said earlier in the day that filing court petitions seeking surveys was a "conspiracy to set the country on fire".

"People want to destroy the country to remain in power," he said in the Parliament complex in a veiled reference to the BJP.

Asked about the opposition parties criticising the Ajmer court's directive, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad refused to comment, saying the matter was subjudice.

He, however, questioned the opposition leaders' understanding of the provisions of the Places of Worship Act, saying they must read the law "carefully" to understand it better.

"There is no binding in it. If there is evidence, it can be reviewed (looked into)," he told reporters in the Parliament complex.

"Anyway, it's known that under what circumstances and pressures the Places of Worship Act had been brought," he added.

The CPI(M) described as "unwarranted" and "without legal standing" the court's decision to entertain the petition, and sought the Supreme Court's immediate intervention in the matter.

"It goes against the provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which decrees that no legal dispute can be raised on a religious place that existed prior to August 15, 1947," the Left party said in a statement.

"The violation of this Act has already resulted in the flawed decision with regard to the survey of the masjid in Sambhal that has led to violence and the death of five persons," it said.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi said all Indian prime ministers, including Narendra Modi, had offered 'chadar' at Ajmer Sharif and the controversy over the claim that the Sufi shrine was a temple was directly or indirectly linked to the BJP and the RSS.

"Where will all this stop? What will happen to the Places of Worship Act, 1991?" he asked.

The Places of Worship Act states that the religious character of any place of worship, as it existed on August 15, 1947, must be maintained, AIMIM leader said.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal termed the development "worrisome" and wondered where the country was being taken for political dividends.