After the recent deadly protests in UP’s Sambhal over a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, now a petition in Rajasthan's Ajmer court claiming that the revered Ajmer Sharif Dargah was originally a Hindu Shiva temple is a🍷dding to the controversy. On Wednesday, Ajmer West Civil Judge Manmohan Chandel accepted the petition and issued summon notices to the Ajmer Dargah Committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Theᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ petition, filed in September by Vishnu Gupta, the national president of the Hindu Sena, seeks permission to allow worship at the site, which is cu𒉰rrently a popular pilgrimage destination for millions of Muslims worldwide.
Vishnu Gupta’s petition argues that the historical texts support the idea that the dargah, which houses the tomb of revered Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, is actually the site of an ancient Shiva temple. He cited a 1911 book by retired judge Harvilas Sharda, Ajmer: Historical and Descriptive, which mentions the presence of Hindu carvings and iconography at the dargah, including on the Buland Darwaza. The book also claims꧒ that debris from a Shiva temple was used in the construction of the dargah. The petition further alleges that a Jain temple exists within the sanctum sanctorum of the site.
The Ajmer Dargah Committee has strongly denied the petitioner's claims, with Syed Sarwar Chishti, the secretary of the committee, stating that the dargah has long been a place of worship for people of all faiths. “Such acts are against communal harmony and nation. The court has issued notices to three parties today. We will see what we can do. Such acts of targeting age-old mosques in Kashi, Mathura are not good,” news agency IANS quoted Syed Sawar Chishti.
The timing of the notice is noteworthy as it comes a week after Raja🐼sthan government renamed a prominent hotel in Ajmer from Khadim to "Ajaymeru," invoking the ancient 🍨name of the city under the 12th-century king Prithviraj Chauhan.
The case also follows recent violent protests in Sambhal, where local Muslims clashed with police after a court ordered an investigation into Shahi Jama Masjid claiming it may have been built on the site of an ancient Hindu temple. The subsequent unrest saw the deaths of five pe💜ople, including a minor, allegedly as a result of police firing.
Th🎀e cases of Ajmer and Sambhal are a part of a series of sim𒁏ilar cases erupted across religious site in India including Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, Shahi Idgah in Mathura, and Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque in Dhar, which have led to protests and communal tensions.
The next hearing is scheduled for December 20.
