The Kamal Maulana Welfare Society has rejected the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s verdict on the Bhojshala-Kamal Maulana mosque complex. Society President Abdul Samad called the order “blatantly one-sided” and said it goes against the Constitution. He confirmed the society will move the Supreme Court against the ruling.
Samad spoke to ANI on Saturday, hours after the verdict came. He said the other side had already rushed to the apex court because they know the order will not stand. “They fully anticipate that the Supreme Court will overturn this order. That is why they have gone there in advance,” he said.
Samad questions scope of the order
Samad raised specific objections to what the court said and what the ASI is now doing. He argued the court’s order never gave permission for daily worship by the Hindu side or the ASI.
“While declaring this site a temple, the court stated that all arrangements should be handled by the government. Nowhere in that order is it written that the ASI or the Hindu side is permitted to conduct daily worship,” he said.
He also said the order did not say Friday Namaz should stop. According to Samad, the ASI is acting against its own rules by enforcing restrictions on Muslim prayers. “Nowhere is it stated that the offering of Namaz should be discontinued,” he said.
Hindu group welcomes verdict, calls it historic
On the other side, members of the Bhoj Utsav Samiti celebrated the verdict. Ashok Kumar Jain, a member of the group, said their long fight had finally paid off. “Our long-standing battle bore fruit today. We call on the Hindu society to come and offer prayers,” he said.
Jain said the site had deep religious significance for Hindus and that restrictions were placed on their worship for years. He blamed the Congress government under former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh for limiting Hindu access to the site.
Jain recalls decades of restriction
According to Jain, Hindus used to pray at the site every Tuesday. He said the Congress state government changed that and allowed them only once a year, on Basant Panchami. He alleged that Muslims were given broader rights to the site during that period.
“The Congress government under Digvijay Singh put restrictions on us and allowed us only once a year on Basant Panchami, while giving the rights to offer Namaz to the Muslims,” Jain said.
Protests, satyagraha, deaths
Jain said the Hindu community did not accept these restrictions quietly. He said protests and Satyagraha movements were held over the issue for years. He also claimed that three workers died during these protests. “We protested and did Satyagraha, during which three of our workers died,” he said.
He compared the treatment of Hindus at the site to what he described as similar situations under the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal. He said the workers stayed firm and eventually the government had to respond.
According to Jain, Hindus were given the right to worship every Tuesday from April 8, 2003.
What the High Court actually said
The Madhya Pradesh High Court gave its ruling on Friday. It declared that the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex is a temple by religious character. The court said the site belongs to the Bhoj-Parmar dynasty period and is dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi, also known as Saraswati.
The court also struck down part of the ASI’s April 7, 2003 order. That order had allowed the Muslim community to offer Namaz at the site on Fridays. The court partially set aside that permission.
ASI to keep control of the site
Despite the ruling on religious character, the ASI will remain in charge of the monument. ASI lawyer Aviral Vikas Khare made this clear after the verdict. He said full administration and regulation of the site will stay with the ASI.
“The entire administration and regulation of this monument shall remain exclusively with the ASI,” he said.