In a landmark judgement delivered last night, the Karnataka High Court allowed the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations to go ahead at the Idgah ground in Hubli-Dharwad in Karnataka. The High court rejected the petition filed by Anjuman-E-Islam seeking a stay order on the Dharwad Municipal Commissioner’s permission granted for the Hindu festival.
The Idgah Maidan in Hubli has been a subject of dispute for decades, with Muslims claiming that they own the ground exclusively, while the administration maintains that it’s a govt property only leased to Muslims. The long-standing ownership dispute was ended in 2010 when the Supreme Court ruled that the Idgah Maidan was the exclusive property of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC).
Before this historic judgement, the ground was subject to dispute for decades, and in 1994, six people were killed when the then Congress govt in the state had prevented nationalist people from hoisting the flag on the ground.
Hindu organisations were attempting to hoist the tricolour at the ground since 1992, but the Congress govt in Karnataka was preventing it, saying it will lead to communal tensions. But in 1994, several Hindu organisations had planned to hoist the national flag on Independence Day in that year. To prevent the planned flag hoisting, the Congress govt at the state had imposed curfew in the city.
But despite the curfew order, Uma Bharti and several other leaders managed to enter the city, and a large number of Hindus had gathered near the Idgah maidan to hoist the flag led by the BJP leader. However, Uma Bharti was arrested around 1 km from the ground, and it sparked communal tension. But suddenly, the police opened fire on the Hindus unprovoked, killing six unarmed people.
The Veerappa Moily govt had sided with the Muslims to not allow the Hindu organisations to hoist the national flag at the Idgah Maidan in Hubli on 15th August 1994. It was also reported that the police resorted to firing to disperse the crowd without using non-lethal methods such as lathi-charge, tear gas shells etc first.
Uma Bharti and several others were charge-sheeted by the people in the case that was filed in the matter. While the case remained dormant for a decade, Uma Bharti was arrested in 2004 after a court had issued fresh arrest warrants, forcing her to resign from the post of Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
The Idgah Maidan dispute
The dispute over the Idgah maidan was the result of an agreement signed a century ago that allowed AeI to use the ground for prayers. In 1921, the Anjuman-E-Islam had signed an agreement with the municipality that allowed it to use the ground twice a year for Ramzan and Bakri Id, and the agreement was valid for 999 years. However, the nature of the agreement was the subject of the dispute, as the agreement didn’t spell out the details. The agreement said that AeI would have to pay a rent of Re 1 per year for the ground, but didn’t mention whether it was a lease or a licence.
The dispute over the Idgah maidan started in 1971 when the Anjuman-E-Islam started to build a commercial complex at the Idgah Maidan after obtaining permission from HDMC. Hindus objected to it, saying that the AeI is only licenced to use the ground, it does not own the land, and it is not allowed to build any permanent structure there. In 1992, B S Shettar and several others filed a petition against the construction, and a trial court ruled in their favour in 1994, rejecting the ownership claim of the Anjuman. The court also ordered the demolition of the commercial complex built by Anjuman.
Anjuman then appealed against the verdict in the Civil Court, the High Court, and the Supreme Court, and lost the case at every stage. In the final verdict issued in 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the land is owned by the Municipality and the AeI is only licenced to use it for prayers. The apex court had also ordered the demolition of the commercial complex built by Anjuman, upholding the verdicts of the lower courts.
National flag on the ground
However, the hoisting of the national flag on the ground had started much before the SC verdict. After the riots in 1994, the Anjuman-e-Islam itself started to hoist the tricolour on the ground the next year, due to political pressure and the negative publicity it had received for refusing to allow the hoisting of the national flag.
After the Supreme Court verdict in January 2010 saying that the ground is owned by HDMC, the municipal corporation started to hoist the tricolour at the ground starting from Republic Day that year.
