Priyanka Tiwari
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The Allahabad High Court asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Tuesday to start and finish the whitewashing of Jama Masjid at Sambhal, UP within a week, as reported by PTI. The next date for hearing of the case is on April 8. Justice Rohit Ranjan Agrawal also ordered the ASI to carry out lighting work around the outer area of the mosque. Earlier on Monday, the authorities of the court had asked the representative of the ASI to explain why whitewashing the outer walls of the mosque would be such a problem.
SFA Naqvi, the legal representative of the masjid committee, claimed the ASI has still not made it clear in its affidavit that it does not intend to carry out the whitewashing, the additional lighting and the decorative lighting on the outer part of the structure in question. He also provided evidence with the aid of colour photographs showing the outside of the disputed structure needing the paint whitewashed.
The Shahi Jama Masjid situated at Sambhal is one of the contested masajid since Samar Hindu plaintiffs alleged that it was erected on a Hindu temple named Hari Mandir.
On November 24 of last year, violence erupted in Sambhal during a survey of Shahi Jama Masjid which is a Mughal-era mosque, resulting in at least four deaths.
In advance of Holi celebrations, the Sambhal mosque has increased security measures.
“The fairs procession will be done from tomorrow. Now, we have 16 fairs in total. There were peace committee meetings at two levels, localities, and villages, and two at the district level. 27 rapid action teams have been set up. 6 zones and 29 sectors were created with magistrates and police officers allocated to each… Every police station’s SHOs along with all magistrates have been instructed to the hotspots. PAC battalions have been deployed for three-tier security as before.” said Rajendra Pensia who is Sambhal’s District Magistrate.
