The petition sought to "reclaim" Krishna Janmabhoomi (Representational)
After the Ayodhya Ram temple case, a petition asking for the removal of a mosque near Krishna Janmabhoomi or what is said to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura was dismissed by a court today.
A petition filed in a civil court in Mathura last week sought to "reclaim" Krishna Janmabhoomi, claiming that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had destroyed a part of a temple at the site believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna. It called for a mosque next to the temple to be removed. The court refused to admit the suit citing a law that bars litigation that alters status quo of 1947 at any religious place; the law, the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, had exempted the Ayodhya ownership dispute.
"Every inch of the land... is sacred for the devotees of Lord Shri Krishna and the Hindu community," lawyer Vishnu Jain had said in his suit asking for 13.37 acres of the site, including the part where the Shahi Idgah Masjid stands. The suit claimed that Lord Krishna was born in the "Karagar (jail) of King Kans" and the entire area is known as ''Katra Keshav Dev''.
"It is a matter of fact and history that Aurangzeb ruled over the country from 1658-1707 AD and he being a staunch follower of Islam had issued orders for demolition of a large number of Hindu religious places and temples including the temple standing at the birthplace of Lord Krishna at Katra Keshav Dev, Mathura in the year 1669-70 AD," said the suit filed in the name of "Bhagwan Sri Krishna Virajman".
The lawyer said the "army of Aurangzeb partly succeeded" in demolishing the Keshav Dev Temple and the structure constructed there was named Idgah Mosque.
He also said a settlement reached in 1968 between the Shree Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sangh and the management of the Shahi Masjid Idgah to avoid each other's sections was illegal.
The "Krishna Janmabhoomi" petition was dismissed on a day another court acquitted all 32 accused of a criminal conspiracy in the demolition of the Babri mosque, including senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti.
The 16th-century Babri mosque in Ayodhya was brought down on December 6, 1992, by thousands of activists or "Kar Sewaks" who believed it was built on the ruins of an ancient temple marking the birthplace of Lord Ram. After tearing down the mosque, many of the activists chanted slogans of "Ayodhya is only the beginning, Kanshi and Mathura are left".
Last November, the Supreme Court handed over the site claimed by both Hindus and Muslims for the building of a Ram temple and ordered that Muslims be given an alternative site for a mosque.