INDORE: At a hearing on the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque dispute case on Monday, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court was informed that there were, in fact, two idols – of Vaghdevi (Goddess Saraswati) and Amba – recovered from the Bhojshala site in Dhar during the colonial period and presently housed in the British Museum in London.The counsel for Hindu Front for Justice, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, made the submission before the bench comprising Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi, which began the final hearing in the case.On Monday, Jain began his arguments by saying the petition by Hindu Front for Justice did not concern ownership or possession of the site. “This is not a case for ownership or possession. This is a case for the right to worship,” he said.The petition referred to an order dated April 7, 2003, issued by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), under which Muslims are permitted to offer namaz at the site on Fridays and Hindus are allowed to worship on specified occasions like Basant Panchami. Jain said the order was legally untenable, as it was issued without any prior determination of the true character of the site.He referred to Section 16 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, which says a protected monument that is also a shrine or a place of worship shall not be used for any purpose inconsistent with its original character. “…The authorities must first ascertain the character of the place of worship and then ensure no action is inconsistent with that character.” Jain said courts must take notice of historical texts, gazetteers and scholarly works in matters involving ancient history.The ASI had conducted a 98-day survey and submitted a report, running into over 2,000 pages, stating the existing structure was constructed with remains of Hindu temples from the Parmar era.
