Anti-Mosque campaign in India

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An anti-Mosque campaign in India is a series of claims made by some right-wing Hindu organizations regarding the existence of temples at current mosque sites. Most of these claims are thought to be political in nature and more often than not pop-up around election time. These claims are also seen as part of larger Hindutva ideology of BJP and RSS. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Incidents

Occupation of mosques

Following the partition of India, two weeks before his assassination in January 1948, Mahatma Gandhi conducted a six-day fast in part to demand evacuation of mosques occupied by non-Muslims. [5]

Gyanvapi Mosque

Gyanvapi Mosque was constructed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1678. The mosque has been a topic of contention between Hindus and Muslims since the British period, in 1991, a suit was filed claiming that mosque had been built on the site of Kashi Vishwanath temple. [1] In 2024, the Civil Court allowed a Hindu petitioner to take possession of the cellar and initiate worship, following the Archeological Survey of India report that determined the existence of a pre-Islamic structure on the site prior to the construction of the mosque.The joint secretary of the masjid committee, S.M Yasmin was disappointed by the court order stating that “Now we have no hope of justice in this country,” [6]

1992 Babri Masjid demolition

The claim that Babri mosque was built on a site near the birthplace of Rama was first made by Joseph Tiefenthaler, a Jesuit missionary, in 1788 Johann Barnoulli translated his account from French. In 1822 Hafizullah, an official of the Faizabad law-court suggested that Babri mosque was built on birthplace of Rama. [7] In 1853, Bairagis, a group of Hindu ascetics asserted that Babri Mosque was built on the site of the Ramjanmabhoomi temple after it had been destroyed by Babur, this led to a series of clashes between Hindus and Muslims at Ayodhya in 1855. [8] Afterwards, a compromise was made that allowed Hindus to worship Rama on a chabootra (platform) close to the mosque. In 1883, a local pandit requested the construction of a temple on the chabootra, but the British denied the request due to its closeness to the mosque. In 1949, after Indian independence, idols of Rama and Sita were surreptitiously installed inside the mosque, which led to the closure of the mosque by the authorities. The demand for the temple was revived in the 1980s and early 1990s by VHP and BJP which led to demolition of the mosque by a mob of Hindu Kar sevaks, in order to forcibly construct a temple on the disputed site. [9] [10]

Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque

A 2020 case filed on behalf of Hindu god Vishnu sought reinstatement of Hindu and Jain idols inside the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque. It also alleged that 27 Hindu and Jain temples had been destroyed for the construction of the mosque. The suit was later dismissed by a civil judge in 2021. [1]

Shamsi Jama Masjid

Shamsi Jama Masjid is a mosque in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, originally built in the year 1223 by Iltutmish. In July 2022, a lawsuit was filed that alleged that Mosque was an "illegal structure" constructed on the site of a Shiva temple, the lawsuit also demanded the ownership of land and right to pray there. It was filed on behalf of a local farmer with the backing of Hindu nationalist right wing organisation Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha. [11]

Sanjauli Mosque

On September 5, 2024, Hindu right-wing groups organized a large protest at Chaura Maidan near the Vidhan Sabha in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, calling for the demolition of Sanjauli Mosque located in Sanjauli. [12]

Atala Mosque, Jaunpur

The Swaraj Vahini Association claims the Atala Mosque was built after allegedly demolishing a 13th-century temple dedicated to Atala Devi. They filed a suit in May 2024 to declare the mosque as the Atala Devi Mandir and permit Hindu worship. The Waqf Atala Mosque challenged this in the Allahabad High Court, asserting it has always been a Muslim place of worship and denying the claims of it being a converted temple. [13]

Uttarkashi protests

In October 2024, the anti-mosque protests were organised by Hindutva groups to demand demolition of a 55-year-old mosque situated near the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Uttarkashi district. These protests soon turned violent after Muslim-owned shops were vandalised. Four police officers were also injured. [14]

Shahi Jama Masjid

In November 2024, a petition was filed by Hari Shankar Jain, a pro-Hindutva advocate in the Chandausi Civil Court alleging that the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal was built over a 'Shri Hari Har Temple'. Following this, Civil judge Aditya Singh directed the survey of the mosque, which resulted in violence. [15] Commentators and scholars note the litigation to be part of a broader Hindu nationalist assault on Indian Muslims. [16] [17] [18]

Shahi Idgah dispute

In Mathura, Uttar Pradesh a dispute originated when the Hindu side filed an original suit before the civil court claiming that the Shahi Idgah Masjid (mosque) was built on Krishna (a Hindu deity) Janmabhoomi (birthplace) land. The original suit filed in 2023 along with other connected petitions is pending before Allahabad High Court. In a recent hearing, the High Court directed the press to exercise caution when reporting court proceedings relating to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah case. [19] [20] [21]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mosque-temple rows and elections: A look at 11 disputed sites". The Indian Express. 2025-01-10. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  2. ↑ "Sambhal: India city tense after violence over mosque survey". www.bbc.com. 25 November 2024. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  3. ↑ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (2022-10-30). "Thousands of mosques targeted as Hindu nationalists try to rewrite India's history". the Guardian. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  4. ↑ Fatima, Heena (2024-10-17). "Masjids, migrants, mobility. Himachal is becoming a new anti-mosque hotspot". ThePrint. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
  5. ↑ Coward, Harold (2012-02-01). Indian Critiques of Gandhi. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 213. ISBN   978-0-7914-8588-0.
  6. ↑ "A Day Before Retiring, Varanasi Judge Hands Over Gyanvapi Masjid Basement to Hindus For Worship". The Wire. 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  7. ↑ Udayakumar, S. P. (1997). "Historicizing Myth and Mythologizing History: The 'Ram Temple' Drama". Social Scientist. 25 (7/8): 11–26. doi:10.2307/3517601. ISSN   0970-0293. JSTOR   3517601 . Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  8. ↑ Layton, Robert; Thomas, Julian, eds. (2003). Destruction and Conservation of Cultural Property. Routledge. pp. 8–9. ISBN   9781134604982.
  9. ↑ Nussbaum, Martha C. (2007). "Genocide in Gujarat". The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India's Future. Harvard University Press. p. 17. doi:10.2307/j.ctt13x0k4v. ISBN   978-0-674-02482-3. JSTOR   j.ctt13x0k4v . Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  10. ↑ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2010). "Ayodhya, the Babri Masjid, and the Ramjanmabhumi Dispute". Hindu nationalism: a reader. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. p. 280-284. ISBN   978-1-4008-2803-6.
  11. ↑ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (2022-10-30). "Thousands of mosques targeted as Hindu nationalists try to rewrite India's history". the Guardian. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  12. ↑ PTI (2024-09-05). "Hindu groups protest in Shimla over 'illegal' mosque in Sanjauli". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  13. ↑ "Court in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur refuses to order survey of Atala mosque". The Hindu. 2024-12-16. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  14. ↑ "Muslim-owned shops vandalised, police injured as anti-mosque protest in Uttarkashi turns violent". Scroll.in. 2024-10-25. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  15. ↑ "Uttar Pradesh: Court-Appointed Commissioner Surveys Mughal-Era Mosque Amid Claims of Ancient Hindu Temple". The Wire. 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  16. ↑ "Past Continuous, Present Tense". Economic and Political Weekly. LIX (49): 7–8. 7 December 2024.
  17. ↑ "Express view: Tragedy in Sambhal". The Indian Express. 2024-11-26.
  18. ↑ "Revanchist suits: The Hindu Editorial on the Shahi Jama Masjid". The Hindu. 2024-12-01.
  19. ↑ Singh, Ratna (2024-12-13). "The 11 disputes over religious sites across India that will now be stayed". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  20. ↑ Karthikeyan, Suchitra (2024-06-12). "Krishna Janmabhoomi and Shahi Idgah timeline: History, 'compromise' & legal battle". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  21. ↑ Mishra, Ishita (2024-08-01). "Mathura's Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Masjid dispute: Allahabad HC upholds maintainability of suits". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2025-01-16.
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