After Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated at the Hubli Idgah in Karnataka earlier this year, now two organizations have submitted a memorandum to the municipal officer seeking permission to celebrate Holi and Onake Obavva Jayanti by installing a statue of Kamdev at the Eidgah ground. A day earlier, the AIMIM had sought permission to celebrate Tipu Sultan Jayanti on the same ground. Earlier, the matter of the Idgah Maidan had gone to the Supreme Court in connection with consent to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi there. The Supreme Court had then permitted to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi at this place, and the Hindu festival was celebrated on the ground starting from the last week of August.
Following the SC’s approval to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi at the Hubli Idgah ground, Dalit organizations and AIMIM submitted memorandums to corporation authorities seeking permission to celebrate Tipu Jayanti there on November 10. Sri Ram Sena has also submitted a memorandum seeking permission to celebrate Kanakadasa Jayanti on this ground.
After that, two Hindu organisations approached the authorities seeking permission to celebrate Holi on the ground. They also want to install a statue of Kamdev at the venue for the occasion.
Mayor Viresh Anchatagiri said, “Religious activities can be done at the Idgah ground but no big leader will be allowed.” Karnataka Home Minister Araga Gyanendra said, “This is a matter concerned to the Hubli Dharwad Municipal Corporation and the mayor and the Karnataka chief minister will look into it.”
In the meanwhile, the ground is being renamed Rani Chennamma Maidan, after Rani Chennamma, the queen of Kittur who led an armed rebellion against the East India Company in 1824. Reportedly, Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) Mayor Viresh Anchatgeri has issued an order to rename the ground. Right Wing organisations were demanding for the Idgah Ground to be named as Rani Chennamma Maidan for a long time.
Mayor Viresh Anchatgeri said that the decision was taken in the general body meeting as it is HDMC property, and the ground didn’t have any official name.
In August, the Karnataka High Court upheld the Dharwad Municipal Commissioner’s order allowing the Ganesh Chaturthi festival to be held at Idgah grounds in the city. Dismissing the petition filed by Anjuman-e-Islam, the order had said the land was the property of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Commission and they can allot the land to whomsoever they want. Later this issue reached the Supreme Court. With the Supreme Court’s nod, the Ganesh Chaturthi festival was celebrated on the ground. This was the first time when a Hindu festival was celebrated there.
The Hubli Idgah ground has been the subject of a contentious legal battle for many years. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the Hubli-Dharawad Municipal Corporation is the sole owner of the ground. The land was given to the Islamic group Anjuman-e-Islam in 1921 on a 999-year lease so that they might do prayers there. Following independence, several shops were established there. This was contested in court, and a protracted legal battle ensued that came to an end in 2010 with the ruling of the Supreme Court. The apex court had given permission for twice-yearly prayers and for no permanent structures to be erected on the land.
