- By Mayukh Debnath
- Wed, 27 Nov 2024 10:36 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Ajmer Dargah Row: A court in Rajasthan's Ajmer on Wednesday issued notices to three parties in a civil suit wherein the plaintiff has claimed that the famed Ajmer Dargah was built over a Shiva temple. According to the plaintiff's counsel, the court of Civil Judge Manmohan Chandel has sought the responses of Ajmer Dargah Committee, Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The suit was filed in September by Vishnu Gupta, the National President of Hindu Sena. The matter has been listed for further hearing on December 20. The plaintiff has sought directions to the ASI to conduct a survey of the dargah. The Ajmer Dargah houses the tomb of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti.
To back his claim, the petitioner cited retired judge Harvilas Sharda's 1911 book, 'Ajmer: Historical and Descriptive', which claims that debris from a Shiva temple was used in the construction of the dargah. The petition also alleges that a Jain temple exists within the sanctum sanctorum of the site.
Advocate Ramswaroop Bishnoi, representing Gupta, explained that the 38-page petition provides evidence supporting claims of a Shiva temple at the site, citing architectural similarities and references from historical texts.
"Our demand was that the Ajmer dargah should be declared as Sankat Mochan Mahadev Temple and if the dargah has any kind of registration, then it should be cancelled. Its survey should be done through ASI and Hindus should be given the right to worship there," Gupta was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The development came on the heels of a fatal bout of violence that claimed the lives of four people and left many others, including policemen, injured in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. The violence erupted when a team arrived to carry out a court-ordered survey of a mosque that petitioners claim was built on a site where a Hindu temple once stood.
(With inputs from agencies)
