Rebuild Asind mosque, says Left

By Mohammed Iqbal

JAIPUR, AUG. 4. In a political twist to the mosque demolition episode in Asind, Rajasthan's left leaders here today accused the ruling Congress in Rajasthan of misleading Parliament by reportedly informing the House last Thursday that the status quo had been restored at the site of the demolished 16th century mosque.

The CPI(M) MLA, Mr. Amra Ram, and other leaders alleged at a press conference here that not only the Congress-led Government in the State had been negligent in dealing with the situation, but the Pradesh Congress Committee president and MP, Dr. Girija Vyas, had also made a wrong statement on the floor of the Lok Sabha.

The matter was raised in the Lok Sabha on Thursday last by the CPI(M) MP, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, who had pointed out that the Rajasthan Government had failed to arrest any of the assailants responsible for the incident and demanded a statement by the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani. Dr. Girija Vyas, objecting to it, had reportedly stated that the matter should not be raised in Parliament as the status quo at the site had been restored.

Mr. Amra Ram said the only change in situation at the temple erected after demolishing the mosque was that the idol of Lord Hanuman had been shifted. The mosque had not been rebuilt. The Gurjar community was in no mood to relent on the issue. Then how was it justified to say that the status quo had been restored.

The vice-president of the State unit of Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Mr. Waqar-ul-Ahad, who was present in the press conference, said that all political parties had a responsibility to help restore communal amity in Asind, for which definite measures should be taken instead of making misleading statements in Parliament.

The left leaders demanded that the mosque be rebuilt at the site where it existed and the State Government acquire a portion of the land of the Sawai Bhoj Temple Trust to provide an easy route to Badia Dargah, situated at some distance, as well as to the mosque. They also demanded stringent action against those responsible for the demolition.

Later, Dr. Girija Vyas, speaking to The Hindu over telephone from Udaipur, said that she had only stated in the Lok Sabha that the people belonging to both the ``groups'' in Asind should be allowed to resolve the issue in an amicable atmosphere at the local level. ``I never said that the demolished mosque had been rebuilt,'' she asserted.

The Rajasthan Home Minister, Mr. Gulab Singh Shaktawat, and the Minister of State for Public Relations, Dr. Jitendra Singh, left Asind today after having failed to persuade the Gurjar community to agree to a reconstruction of the mosque. Gurjars, who seem to be in a defiant mood, are now claiming that the demolished structure was not a mosque.

While Dr. Jitendra Singh returned to the State capital this afternoon, Mr. Shaktawat went to Udaipur today and is expected to go back Asind tomorrow for making another attempt to find a solution. The Gurjars have reportedly told both the Ministers that they would not allow the Government to interfere in the matter until they discussed it in the peace committee meeting scheduled for Monday.

In an attempt to evolve a consensus, the district administration has taken an oath from half a dozen leaders of the Muslim community in the town that they would not insist on offering namaaz at the mosque if and when it was rebuilt. The mosque will have a symbolic value, as it had before, and will not be used for prayers.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Three housing projects cleared for Mizoram
Next     : A painful moment for Advani, RSS