After the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) submitted its report in the Madhya Pradesh High Court of the survey at the Bhojshala Complex in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar, the Hindu petitioners exerted confidence in their case while the Muslim petitioners alleged violations on the part of the surveying team.
The ASI, after a 98-day-long survey of the disputed site known as Bhojshala temple-Kamal Maula mosque complex, claimed that the mosque was constructed using parts of temple remains.
Explained: What is the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex dispute?
Abdul Samad, president of the Kamal Maula Welfare Society and the petitioner of the Muslim side, alleged various violations during the survey on the part of the ASI team.
“The ASI has only submitted a written report of 2,000 pages. Our demand is that they should also submit the video evidence recorded during the survey. That will show that they have violated the Supreme Court guidelines and damaged things related to the Muslim community,” Mr. Samad told The Hindu.
Mr. Samad had filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court on March 16, five days after the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered the survey. While the survey commenced on March 22, the top court on April 1 issued guidelines for the ASI to not change or damange the original form of the structure, he recalled.
“During the survey, I registered my written objections regarding various activities to the ASI team,” he added.
Mr. Samad, however, clarified that he was yet to read the report in its entirety and refused to comment on its contents.
Meanwhile, Ashish Goyal of the Hindu Front for Justice, a petitioner from the Hindu side, said he was confident that based on the ASI survey, the site would be declared a temple and the Hindu community would be given the right to worship there on all days.
According to the Hindu petitioners, the Bhojshala temple of Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati) was constructed by King Bhoj of the Parmar dynasty in 1034 AD.
During the survey, they discovered that the remains at the site were related to Hinduism, he said, adding that he was sure the ASI had presented the same in its report. “We are very happy about it,” he said.
The next hearing in the High Court is on July 22.
