On Sunday, July 16, the Jalgaon District administration issued an interim order refraining people of the Muslim community to enter a disputed mosque structure that resembles an old temple. The administration has sealed the century-old disputed mosque temporarily and has issued an order under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, immediately banning prayers on the premises.
In the order, the collector has also directed police deployment in the area and has asked the local administration to take charge of the mosque, which has been officially declared as ‘disputed’.
This is after a local Hindu organization Pandavwada Sangharsh Samiti complained that the structure located in Erandol region in the Jalgaon district resembles an old temple and that the Muslim community, the Jumma Masjid Trust Committee has encroached over the temple land.
In the course of May, Prasad Madhusudan Dandawate, the complainant, submitted a plea to Aman Mittal, the Jalgaon district collector. This petition of Dandawate is said to have garnered support from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bajrang Dal, and the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS). According to the complaint, the mosque has been illegally constructed over a Hindu place of worship and should be taken over by the authorities. The complainant further asserts that the Hindu character and structure of the vicinity have been destroyed by the Jumma Masjid Trust who illegally encroached on the area to call it a Mosque.
Trust managing disputed Mosque moves to the Bombay HC
Reportedly, the trust managing the Mosque has moved the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court against the collector’s order banning entry into the premises for offering prayers.
The petition, filed by the Jumma Masjid Trust Committee’s president Altaf Khan claims that the collector passed the ‘arbitrary and illegal’ order on July 11 which directed them to hand over the keys of the Mosque to the Erandol municipal council’s chief officer.
As per the trust, the mosque has reportedly been around for a while, and the Maharashtra government has designated its construction as an ancient and historical monument and that it has been included in the Schedule of Protected Monuments.
The trust also says that it has been taking the utmost precautions, and neither the state government nor the Archaeological Department have ever received any grievances in regard to the structure.
The said petition filed by the trust through advocate S S Kazi is slated to be heard on July 18.
History of Pandava Wada in Erandol
The Pandav wada sites in the Erandol region of Jalgaon district, are under Islamic encroachments. It is believed that the Pandavas spent their years in exile in Erandol region and that the Hindu and Jain temple-like structures built here are 800-1000 years old. Later due to the severe indifference among Hindus, Muslims slowly started encroaching on Pandav Wada more than 125 years ago, and they eventually built a mosque there while claiming it to be Wakf property.
Hindu groups like the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) and Pandavwada Sangharsh Samiti have been battling to reclaim Pandavwada from the Wakf Board’s intrusions and restore the areas. The contested mosque has records of existence of at least 100 years, whereas the principal buildings in Pandava wada (built in the style of Jain and Hindu temples) are reportedly 800-1000 years old.
Hindu organizations maintain that the mosque was constructed by destroying a Hindu temple that is mentioned in the Mahabharata epic. Further, the associated Wakf committee had been working to build the disputed mosque in order to ruin the Pandavwada’s Hindu culture as described in the Mahabharata and local chronicles.
How the structure of the disputed Jumma Masjid was illegally expanded?
As per the report by Hindu Existence, the HJS team of experts is said to have discovered that the Jumma Masjid once existed near Pandav Wada, exactly behind the Pandava Wada. In 1880 AD, the mosque collapsed as a result of extensive rainfall. subsequently, the then-British government and the mosque’s controlling trust entered into a contract. The agreement, which stated that the trust would rent space from the government for a 25-year period to keep resources like wood and fodder, was attested to by a one rupee stamp paper. It was decided on a two rupee annual rent.
Even though the agreement was simply for storage, numerous important historical structures were eventually demolished. Numerous intricately carved stone pillars and window frames were charred or destroyed. More than 150-year-old trees were uprooted. The pillars were repurposed to construct platforms and shelters after the exquisite carvings were removed to destroy the Hindu-Jain motifs. The tunnels beneath the surface were closed. Nothing of the sort was done with consent. The Hindu organizations have called this a cognizable offense because Pandav Wada was covered under the Ancient Monument Act. The mamledar of Erandol was ordered to act by the Maintenance surveyor, and a trustee of Jumma Musjid Sandekhan Rahimakha is said to have apologized in writing.
HJS calls it a case of ‘Land Jihad’
Sunil Ghanwat of HJS Maharashtra called it a ‘land jihad case’ and said, “There was a total 4 lakh acres of land with Wakf boards as Wakf property in 2009. But, the lands have been increased to 8 lakh acres as of 2023 in a miraculous way. How can this happen without encroachment over other’s land?”
“In Tamilnadu, an entire village of Thiruchenthurai has been declared as Wakf property including a 1500-old Sundareswarar Chandrasekhara Swamy temple situated in the village. Due to the culpable Waqf law, many places like Dwarka Island and Surat Municipal Corporation in Gujarat; Chandrashekhar Azad Park in Prayagraj, Gyanvapi of Varanasi, and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh have been declared as Waqf property. This aggression of Wakf must stop,” he said.
Disputed Mosque claims collector’s order as illegal
Meanwhile, the mosque committee continues to hold that the collector’s order to seal the mosque is ‘illegal’ as the mosque stands on a registered waqf property. “It’s only the Waqf tribunal that takes decisions with regard to Waqf properties. The collector has bypassed the waqf tribunal,” the committee says.
The Bombay High Court is slated to hear the petition filed by the trust of the disputed mosque on July 18.
