Akhil Bharatiya Teerth Mahasabha, a body of priests of the holy city Mathura, has opposed the move to resurrect the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi temple-Idgah dispute in the city. The mahasabha said some outsiders were trying to ignite the trouble in the otherwise peaceful city and this issue was settled over five decades back through an agreement.

“Some outsider lawyers are trying to vitiate the peace and tranquillity of the holy city of Mathura. After the settlement of the Ayodhya dispute, they are free so they are now concentrating on Mathura,” said Mahesh Pathak, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Teerth Mahasabha.  

Asked about his political affiliation, Pathak said, 

“I am associated with the Congress and I belong to the family of freedom fighters and I am a religious person.”

“The common man in Mathura and the Teerth Mahasabha are not in favour of the suit filed in a local court and the case should be dismissed by the court. As the situation obtains, we may also file application in the court for Mahasabha to be impleded as a party in the dispute so that we may get an opportunity to put the record before the court,” Pathak said.

Pathak said, “Even Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, head of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, who is a native of Mathura, is not in favour of  resurrecting the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Idgah dispute. He had said on record that the deity Ram Lalla was living in a makeshift temple in Ayodhya while Krishna Bhagwan idol is installed in a temple.”

A civil suit was filed before the court of civil judge, senior division, Mathura on September 26 on behalf of child deity Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman, seeking the removal of the Shahi Idgah, adjacent to the Shri Krishna temple complex at Mathura. Ranjana Agnihotri, an advocate of Lucknow, has filed the suit. 

The UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and the Committee of Management of Trust of Shahi Idgah have been arraigned as defendants in the suit. The suit seeks recovery of 13.37 acres of land situated within the area of the temple.

The suit claims that the trust, with the help of some Muslims, encroached upon the land belonging to Shri Krishna Janamasthan Trust and the deity, and erected a structure. The birthplace of Lord Krishna lies beneath the structure raised by the trust, the suit said. 

It was also claimed that Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan, which is the governing body of the temple complex, entered into an illegal compromise with the Shahi Idgah trust with a view to grab the property in question.

The civil suit argued that the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan was working against the interests of the deity and devotees and fraudulently entered into a compromise with the Committee of Management of Trust Masjid Idgah (Trust) in 1968 conceding a considerable portion of the property belonging to the deity and the trust.

The civil judge, Mathura, passed a judgement on the suit regarding the alleged “compromise between the Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan and the Trust” on July 20, 1973. The present suit has now prayed for “cancelling this judgement”.

Meanwhile, Akhada Parishad based at Prayagraj associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has already given a call for starting a movement for liberating the Krishna Janmabhoomi. 

According to Mahant Narendra Giri, head of the Akhada Parishad, the next meeting of the Parishad to discuss the Krishna janmabhoomi issue will be held in Vrindavan on October 15.