The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court after hearing the plea of the All India Muslim Personal Board (AIMPlB) ordered on Tuesday that Friday prayers would be held from 1 to 3 pm, while Saraswati Puja would be held in two phases.
First phase of the puja would start from dawn and would last till 12 noon while the second phase of the puja would start from 3 pm and last till dusk. Notably, similar arrangements were made by the High Court in 2013 when Basant Panchami felled on Friday but the Hindu organisations refused honor the High Court order and vacate the premises resulting in violence.
AIMPlB’s Executive Committee member and former State Congress spokesman Arif Masood has knocked court doors in the backdrop of 2013. The court after hearing the petition ordered that Muslims are allowed to offer Friday prayers between 1 to 3 pm while the Hindus are allowed to perform Puja from sunup to 12 noon and again from 3 pm to sunset.
The petitioner has also raised the issue of Court orders contempt in 2013 over that the High Court told the state government to submit its reply within six weeks.
Though, the additional advocate general of the state appearing in the case on behalf of the state government told the court that many senior ranked police officers including ADGP, DIG, SSP, SP, ASP, Dy. SP and other police personals have been deployed at the disputed site to maintain normalcy, besides, the state government has also deployed a company of CRPF, RAF and SAF so that members of both the communities could enter the protected monument and could perform prayers as per their religion.
Meanwhile, the Hindu organisations have rejected High Court arrangement of letting both Hindus and Muslims pray at Bhojshala saying the devotees will sit outside the disputed shrine if Friday prayers are allowed.
Dharma Jagaran Manch convenor Gopal Sharma said, “Hindus will boycott the puja if they are not allowed uninterrupted access to the shrine from sunrise to sunset. Interrupted prayers are not auspicious. We are hoping that something will happen by February 11.”
The Dharma Jagaran Manch’s talk of boycott has kept the administration on its toes because till recently its members had said Muslims should be asked to pray elsewhere for a day.
Notably, Bhojshala is a disputed 11th century structure that is claimed by both Muslims and Hindus. Hindus consider Bhojshala as the temple of Goddess Waghdevi (Saraswati), whereas Muslims say it is Kamal Moula mosque. In the normal course, Hindus are allowed to perform puja on Tuesdays and Muslims offer namaz on Fridays. The structure is open to all on rest of days.