A team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) continued its survey at the contentious Bhojshala/Kamal Maula Mosque complex for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday. The Bhojshala complex is situated in Madhya Pradesh's tribal-dominated Dhar district. The ASI team, accompanied by senior police and administrative officials, began the archaeological survey on March 22, following the directions of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The High Court on March 11 ordered the ASI to carry out within six weeks a ‘scientific survey’ of the Bhojshala complex, a medieval-era monument.
According to the Hindu side, it is a temple of Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), while the Muslim community says it's Kamal Maula Mosque. On April 7, 2003, the Archaeological Survey of India issued an order allowing Hindus to worship inside the Bhojshala complex every Tuesday, while the Muslims can offer namaz here on Fridays.
Amid the ongoing survey, a Muslim organisation has approached ASI and urged it to avoid including any items that were added to the premises post-2003, PTI reported.
Over the weekend, Abdul Samad, president of the Kamal Maula Mosque Welfare Society -- key party in the ongoing legal battle -- communicated his reservations to the ASI in an email.
He stated, "We object that the ASI should not include in the survey the objects put up inside Bhojshala after 2003."
The petitioners from the Hindu side are Ashish Goyal and Gopal Sharma.
Goyal, a worker from the Hindu Front for Justice, which is one of the petitioners in the case, stated that the survey is being conducted using “carbon dating, GPS technology, and GPR technology”.
“They conducted the survey inside as well as outside throughout the 50-metre stretch, as instructed by the court,” ANI quoted him as saying.
The Hindu Front for Justice argued in the High Court that the Kamal Maula Mosque was constructed during the reign of Alauddin Khilji between the 13th and 14th centuries. It stated that the Mosque was made by “destroying and dismantling ancient structures of previously constructed Hindu temples”.
While ordering a survey, a Bench of Justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Devnarayan Mishra noted that the nature and character of the whole monument, maintained by Centre, “needs to be demystified and freed from the shackles of confusion”.
Meanwhile, Samad said the Muslim side has already challenged the high court's direction of a new survey in the Supreme Court.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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