THE CONTROVERSYOn May 10, Hindutva groups such as Mahakal Manav Sewa descended on the Qutub Minar, demanding that the iconic monument be renamed Vishnu Stambh. Former ASI regional director Dharamveer Sharma reiterated the claim, saying the Qutub Minar was a “sun tower” built by Chandragupta Vikramaditya circa 5th century.Earlier, on April 7, National Monuments Authority chairman and BJP leader Tarun Vijay claimed that the Ganesha idols placed “disrespectfully” in the Qutub Minar complex be either moved to the National Museum or installed “respectfully”. Meanwhile, a Delhi district court has been hearing a petition seeking restoration of Hindu and Jain deities, and the right to worship within the Qutub Minar complex. The petitioner has claimed that 27 temples in the complex were partly demolished by Qutubuddin Aibak and the material reused to build the adjacent Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque.WHO'S BEHIND ITLawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, son of Lucknow-based lawyer Hari Shankar Jain, on whose plea in 1993 the court had ordered that Hindus be allowed to worship at the Babri Masjid site, filed the petition demanding restoration of Hindu and Jain deities and the right to worship in the Qutub Minar complex..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}WHERE IT'S HEADEDThough there has been no official confirmation, the culture ministry has reportedly asked ASI to conduct the iconography of idols at the Qutub complex. Maulana Sher Mohammad, the Imam of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, has claimed in media that ASI officials asked him to stop offering namaaz from May 13.During hearings dem­anding the right to worship in the Qutub Minar, ASI opposed the suit, saying the Qutub Minar was not a place of worship, and that the existing status of the monument could not be altered. UNESCO declared the Qutub Minar a World Heritage Site in 1993.COVER STORY | The Mandir Wapsi movementOn May 24, during the final hearings of the case, additional district judge Nikhil Chopra asked under what legal remedy can the petitioners claim a right of restoration “for something that happened 800 years ago”. While agreeing the “existence of idols is not in dispute”, the additional district judge, in a lighter vein, said: “The deity survived for the last 800 years without worship. Let it survive like that.”Published By: Arindam MukherjeePublished On: Jun 3, 2022--- ENDS ---
