Now Agra Fort on saffron radar; demand to ban namaz at mosque inside fort

A complaint filed in the Mathura court contended that several Hindu deities were buried under the stairs of the mosque

Saffron outfits added a mosque to their radar on Friday when a complaint was filed in a Mathura court, which was hearing the Srikrishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Mosque matter, seeking a ban on the namaz at the Begum ki Masjid inside the famous Agra Fort in Agra, contending that several Hindu deities were buried under the stairs of the mosque.

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

''The deities are trampled every day as people climb the stairs to enter the Mosque to offer prayers. It hurts the sentiments of the Hindus and therefore, namaz at the mosque must be banned forthwith,'' Singh said.

Also read: District court to continue hearing Gyanvapi Mosque case on May 30

The court, however, refused the accept the plaint and asked the complainant to give notice to the respondents, which included the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and some other government bodies. This was required under section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, which stated 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 by 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 Srikrishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura. This matter also arises within days of saffron outfits laying claim on the historic 'Tile Wali Masjid' in Lucknow stating that it was in fact 'Luxman Tila'.