2024-07-06 15:49:39
edge: Petition seeking right to worship for Jain community at Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Masjid complex withdrawn. The writ petition filed in Madhya Pradesh High Court was withdrawn on Friday on technical grounds. The petition filed by Delhi-based social activist Salekchand Jain claimed that the disputed complex once had a Jain gurukul and a Jain temple where idols of Goddess Ambika were installed.
Justice Pranay Verma of the Indore Bench of the High Court, while hearing the writ petition, orally observed that the petition has neither been presented in the proper format nor the reason for the delay in filing it has been stated.
After this, Jain’s lawyers withdrew the petition and asked the court for permission to file a new application in the prescribed format. Later, the petition was withdrawn after getting the permission of the single bench court.
It (the petition) claimed that there used to be a Jain Gurukul and Jain temple in the Bhojshala complex, where students were taught by Jain monks and scholars. The work of translation of texts in Sanskrit, Prakrit and other languages was also done in this complex. Therefore, people of the Jain community should be given the right to worship at this place.
The petition also claimed that the idol in the Bhojshala complex, which the Hindu community is claiming to be the idol of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), is actually the idol of Goddess Ambika (Jain Yakshini) of the Jain community, which was installed in this complex by King Bhoj of Dhar in 1034 AD.
The petition demanded that the statue kept in a museum in London be brought back to India and re-installed in the Bhojshala complex in Dhar. The Hindu community considers Bhojshala as the temple of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim side calls this 11th century monument as Kamal Maula Masjid. The complex is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
As per the High Court order in the Bhojshala survey case, the ASI has to submit the complete survey report of the disputed complex by July 15.