The trustee of a 350-year-old mosque in Lucknow has questioned a “mischievous” petition filed by a Supreme Court advocate which claims that “fundamentalist barbarians” invaded India and destroyed places of worship.
The petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay had also challenged a special law — Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991 — which freezes the status of places of worship as it was on August 15, 1947. A Bench led by Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde had decided to examine his petition and asked the government to respond.
Now, Wasif Hasan, the co-mutawalli of Teeleywali Masjid, said Mr. Upadhyay’s petition was not based on facts, and in fact, its contents were quite “shocking”.
Mr. Hasan said he is already fighting a suit in Lucknow against parties who claim that a temple once stood where the Teeleywali Masjid was built.
The claims in the suit are not backed by historical facts or records, he said.
“This mischievous petition [of Mr. Upadhyay] intends to isolate the Muslim community from other religious communities in the country ... The petition tries to create an allegedly factual case of fundamentalist barbarians coming to India and destroying places of worship. The petition is not backed by any facts, sources to support that any such place of worship was destroyed,” the application said.
Mr. Hasan urged the apex court to allow him to intervene and prove that Mr. Upadhyay’s petition “creates a false narrative that Muslims and Christians are invaders and less a part of India than other communities.”
“Indians are as proud of the mosques of Lucknow and Delhi as they are of the temples of Haridwar and Badrinath. The churches of Goa are as dear to us as the Kamakhya temple in Assam. The Jama Masjid is a cultural centre that belongs to India, not only to the Muslims of India,” Mr. Hasan submitted in his application.
On March 12, the top court had issued notice to the Union Ministries of Home, Law and Culture.
Mr. Upadhyay had submitted that the 1991 Act provided an “arbitrary, irrational and retrospective” cut-off date which barred Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs from approaching courts to “reclaim” their places of worship which were “invaded” and “encroached” upon by “fundamentalist barbaric invaders.”
“The Act declared that character of places of worship-pilgrimage shall be maintained as it was on August 15, 1947 and no suit or proceeding shall lie in court in respect of disputes against encroachment done by fundamentalist barbaric invaders and law breakers and such proceeding shall stand abated,” the petition has said.
