Mrs Salma Ansari, the wife of former vice president Hamid Ansari had hogged limelight recently when she had declared that she wants to build a temple inside the ‘Chacha Nehru Madarsa’ that she runs in the Aligarh Muslim University campus.
Salma Ansari had declared that the students in her Madarsa, which reportedly has many pupils from Hindu families too, often go outside the campus to pray, which makes her worried for their safety. Ansari had stated that she plans to build a Hindu temple and a Mosque inside the premises.
Salma Ansari’s announcement has reportedly drawn the ire of the AMU administration. As per a report in Amar Ujala, the AMU administration has stated that Salma Ansari’s Madarsa stands on land that is on lease from AMU. The lease was for 10 years only and no construction will be allowed without the express permission of the AMU authorities.
The AMU officials have also added that Salma Ansari has not sent any official request for construction yet.
Reports say that even if Salma Ansari initiates the paperwork for the construction, the AMU will have difficulties in granting the permission because, as per court orders in 2017, there has been a ban on construction of religious structures of worship inside educational institutions.
Salma Ansari has reportedly written to the AMU authorities to extend the lease period for the Madarsa from 10 years to 30 years.
Following Salma Ansari’s announcement, SP MLA Zamir Ullah Khan had stated that it is a bad move and if a temple is constructed inside the Madarsa premises, there will be further demands to construct temples in other Madarsas.
Professor Mufti Zahid, an AMU scholar and professor of theology had stated that Muslims are not allowed to propagate idol worship, let alone construct a temple inside Madarsa.
It is notable here that Salma Ansari’s announcement had come soon after a Sunday Guardian article about claims by former RAW officers that her husband, former vice president Hamid Ansari had endangered the lives of RAW officers stationed in Iran, and exposed the RAW set-up there when he was stationed as the Indian Ambassador.
