Rajasthan court to hear plea claiming Ajmer Sharif Dargah as Shiv temple

NEW DELHI: A Rajasthan court on Wednesday accepted a petition filed by Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta, claiming that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah is actually a Shiva temple. The Ajmer lower court issued notices to three entities in response to a lawsuit claiming that a Shiva temple exists within the premises of the revered dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti.

The court, presided over by Civil Judge Manmohan Chandel, is examining the case, which seeks to reinstate Hindu worship at the site.

Advocate Yogesh Siroja, representing the plaintiff, stated that the notices have been sent to the Ajmer Dargah Committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in New Delhi.

These parties have been asked to provide their responses to the claims made in the suit, which was filed in September.

Vishnu Gupta, the plaintiff, has demanded that the dargah be declared as the “Sankat Mochan Mahadev Temple”. He further insisted on an ASI-led survey of the site to determine its historical and religious significance.

Gupta also called for the cancellation of any existing registrations related to the dargah and urged that Hindus be granted rights to worship there.

“Our demand was that the Ajmer dargah should be declared as Sankat Mochan Mahadev Temple and if the dargah has any kind of registration, then it should be cancelled. Its survey should be done through ASI and Hindus should be given the right to worship there,” Gupta said in his plea.

The next hearing is on December 20.

Reacting to the court’s verdict, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh called for immediate intervention of the Supreme Court, citing the 1991 Places of Worship Act.

“The Honourable Supreme Court of India should immediately intervene in the matter. The 1991 Places of Worship Act clearly states that all regilious structures, be it of any religion -- Hindu or Islam -- must remain as they were after August 15, 1947. The entire country will see chaos if this precedent of saying that there was a mosque beneath a temple or temple beneath a mosque starts. PM Modi and the BJP want the entire country to fight and that is why I call the Bharatiya Jhagda Party,” Sanjay Singh said.

The development comes amid the ongoing violence in Sambhal which led to four deaths and multiple injuries, including to police personnel, after a local court ordered a survey of a mosque alleged to have been constructed over an ancient temple.