The Akhil Bhartiya Teerth Purohit Mahasabha (ABTPM) on Monday condemned the filing of a suit in Mathura court raising the Sri Krishna Janambhoomi issue.
The petitioners, from other districts, have filed the case seeking removal of the mosque from there, claiming it was built after razing a temple by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
“Residents of Braj area (with Mathura as epicenter) are living in peace with no issue being raised related to Sri Krishna Janambhoomi and adjoining Shahi Eidgah mosque. Few outsiders have come and filed a court case, damaging the fabric of harmony here,” said Mahesh Pathak, president of ABTPM which has its headquarters in Haridwar and is the apex body of priests.
“Things in Mathura are different from Ayodhya, where Lord Rama was living in a makeshift arrangement in the open. We have an elaborate arrangement here in Mathura, where a grand temple is constructed at Sri Krishna Janambhoomi,” said Pathak.
He also said there had been an agreement in 1968 paving the way both for the temple and the mosque.
Pathak questioned the timing of filing the court case “after the matter related to the Ram temple in Ayodhya got settled.”
The plaintiffs are from Delhi, Lucknow, Basti and Siddharth Nagar and the next date fixed by the court is September 30.
However, Gopeshwar Chaturvedi of Sri Krishna Janm Sewa Sansthan finds no wrong with the filing of the suit in the court. The sansthan has been impleaded in the case as defendant number 4 in the suit filed on behalf of Bhagwan Sri Krishna Virajman through next friend Ranjana Agnihotri from Lucknow.
“The Shahi Eidgah Mosque is a symbol of atrocities that Hindus faced. It was built after razing a temple. The Muslim brothers should willingly hand over the land to Sri Krishna Janambhoomi. Mosques and temples can be many but ‘janmabhoomi’ cannot be more than one,” said Chaturvedi.
“We will place our version in court,” he said.
The case has been filed in court of civil judge (senior division), Mathura for cancellation of the judgment and decree dated July 20, 1973 and judgment and decree dated November 7, 1974 passed in civil suit no. 43 of 1967 by the civil judge of Mathura.
The plaintiffs have also sought a declaration that the land measuring 13.37 acres be vested in deity Lord Sri Krishna Virajman.
The suit also claims that UP Central Waqf Board, committee of management and trust of Shahi Masjid Idgah be directed to remove encroachment upon the land and hand over “vacant” possession to Sri Krishna Janambhoomi Trust.