Plea filed in Supreme Court demanding survey of mosques more than 100 years old
Highlights
- A petition was filed in SC seeking a survey of all mosques in India older than 100 years.
- The petition also demanded to stop the use of ponds or wells for 'wazu' in all the old mosques.
- The petition said if the government conducts a confidential survey, much evidence can come out.
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a survey of all mosques in India that are more than a hundred years old, identified by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) or any other government agency. The petition also demanded to stop the use of ponds or wells for 'wazu' in all the old mosques for the time being. This petition has been filed in the Supreme Court by advocates Shubham Awasthi and Saptarshi Mishra.
Claiming historical facts in the petition filed in the Supreme Court, it was said that there is a lot of evidence in which it is written that mosques were built by destroying temples by Muslim invaders. In such a situation, if the government conducts a confidential survey, much evidence can come out.
The petition for the survey was filed so that it can be found out if there are religious places for Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, or Buddhists. There was also a demand to keep these surveys confidential so as to avoid communal hatred and hurting religious sentiments if any evidence is found in the survey.
The petition demanded that alternate arrangements should be made at a different place for performing 'wazu' till the confidential survey is completed. The petition said that during the survey, if the remains of any religion or some items are found inside the mosque or from the well, then they should be preserved.
The petition said that in the medieval era Muslim invaders had defiled many Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and Buddhist temples and demolished them, and built mosques. In such a situation, the remains of many deities will be found in these ancient places of worship, which will be of other religions. For mutual cooperation and harmony, the relics present in these mosques should be respected and steps should be taken for their return.
