As the movement around the liberation of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura gathers steam, most notably by a petition filed on Friday seeking the removal of Shahi Idgah mosque built reportedly at the exact place of Lord Krishna’s birth, an organisation headed by a Congress leader has moved to denounce the petition.
The ‘All India Teerth Purohit Mahasabha’ headed by Congress leader Mahesh Pathak has condemned the petition seeking the removal of the 17th-century mosque. Pathak said that there is no dispute between the mosque and the temple after an agreement was reached between the two parties in the twentieth century.
Congress leader Mahesh Pathak calls petitioners seeking the right over Lord Krishna’s birthplace as ‘outsiders’
Pathak called those filed the petition as ‘outsiders’, accusing them of fomenting chaos and disharmony in Mathura by raising the issue of reclamation of Lord Krishna’s birthplace.
“Some outsiders are trying to disrupt the peace and harmony in Mathura by dredging up the mosque-temple issue. There is a mutual understanding between the two communities and the existence of two religious sites next to each other signifies the emotional solidarity,” Pathak said.
It is worth noting that Mahesh Pathak has also contested the Lok Sabha elections from Mathura on a Congress ticket. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he got only 28,084 (2.55%) votes and Hema Malini of BJP won for the second time in a row from the Mathura constituency.
Babri litigant calls those petition filed in Mathura a design of people wanting to perpetuate Hindu-Muslim politics
Babri litigant Iqbal Ansari also echoed sentiments raised by Congress leader Mahesh Pathak, claiming that purveyors of Hindu-Muslim politics are trying to create a controversy over the issue. He added that it is in some people’s interest to let temple-mosque issue dispute continue interminably. He cited the example of Babri case which lasted for more than 50 years in the court. Ansari accused the people seeking the liberation of Lord Krishna’s birthplace as those who are hindering the progress of India.
On the other hand, ‘Bajrang Dal’ founder Vinay Katiyar clarified that the mosque stands today in the same place in Mathura where Lord Krishna was born. He said that the path to that mosque goes through Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi. He added that it was forcibly taken over by people of another community, adding that without any major demonstration the administration won’t wake up to the demands made by the Hindus.
Petition filed in Mathura court for seeking ownership of Lord Krishna’s birthplace
A civil suit was filed on Friday last week in a Mathura court seeking the ownership over entire 13.37 acres of Krishna Janmabhoomi land in Mathura and also sought the removal of Shahi Idgah Masjid.
In a petition filed, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain demanded that the agreement reached between the Sri Krishna Janmasthana Seva Sansthan and the Shahi Idgah Management Committee in 1968 is completely wrong and should be repealed. The petitioners have stated that the entire area is known as ‘Katra Keshav Dev’, a place where Lord Krishna was born in the karagar of King Kans and added that the place of birth currently lies beneath the existing structure.
