Shahi Idgah mosque stands on 2.5 acres of the 13.37 acres of land said to belong to the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Sewa Sansthan
(Photo: Chandradeep Kumar)
THE CONTROVERSY
It concerns the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque, which stands on 2.5 acres of the 13.37 acres of land said to belong to the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Sewa Sansthan (KJSS). The mosque is said to have come up on the plinth of the Keshavadeva temple that emperor Aurangzeb razed in 1670 in retribution for a Jat rebellion. Jugal Kishore Birla bought the land for Rs 13,400 in 1944 and set up the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust, which later became the KJSS.
WHO’S BEHIND IT
The KJSS filed a civil lawsuit regarding ownership of the entire 13.37 acre land in 1964. In 1968, the KJSS and the Shahi Idgah mosque management committee reached a compromise agreement, under which the land ownership would remain with the Sansthan but the management committee would run the mosque.
Lucknow-based advocate Ranjana Agnihotri and six others filed a plea in the lower court on September 24, 2020 for the mosque’s removal but the civil judge rejected it as non-admissible, on grounds that none of the petitioners was from Mathura or had a valid stake in the matter. Undeterred, the petitioners filed a revision petition in the district court on October 16, 2020 in Mathura, which was accepted on May 19, 2022. Till now, 11 cases have been filed on different aspects of the dispute, but all want the mosque removed. Tanvir Ahmed, secretary and counsel of the managing committee of Shahi Idgah mosque, says, “We have received a copy of the order dated May 19…. Observations made by the court of the district judge while allowing the revision appear not to be legally tenable and will be challenged in the Allahabad High Court after proper discussion amongst stakeholders.”
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WHERE IT’S HEADED
The court will have to look into the revenue records and decide on the validity of the 1968 “compromise agreement” between the temple and mosque trusts.