"BJP has no agenda other than Hindu-Muslim divide": Digvijaya Singh slams ruling party over Bhojshala row

Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], May 16 : Senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh on Saturday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Bhojshala row, accusing the ruling party of having "no other agenda other than the Hindu-Muslim divide"

He called for a deeper study of the case, highlighting the Places of Worship Act, 1991.

Speaking to reporters in Indore, Digvijaya Singh raised legal and historical arguments surrounding the 11th-century monument, noting its status as a centrally protected site.

"As far as the Bhojshala case is concerned, it requires a bit of study, and there are 2-3 reasons for this. The very first reason is that this is a protected monument under the ASI. Under the regulations of the ASI, there is legally no provision for worship, whether in a mosque, a temple, a Gurudwara, or a church," Singh said.

The Congress veteran further claimed that previous legal submissions by government representatives under the BJP rule contradicted the current narrative.

"Now, the question has arisen as to whether this site is a Bhojshala or a mosque. The ASI had surveyed the site. At that time, when Uma Bharti was the Chief Minister, Sumitra Mahajan's husband served as the Government Pleader. In the report submitted by the ASI, it was mentioned that they had found no evidence of a temple at the site. It was the government counsel who presented the ASI's report, and in doing so, he stated that they had found no evidence of a temple there," he claimed.

Invoking the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act enacted during the PV Narasimha Rao-led Congress government, the Rajya Sabha MP argued that altering the status of the religious structure is a punishable offence under Indian law.

"The second point is this: after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Narasimha Rao enacted a law stating that, with the sole exception of the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute, no other temple or mosque in the country could be altered or converted after the date of independence; doing so would constitute a legally punishable offence," Singh pointed out.

Lashing out at the ruling party, Singh added, "The BJP has no other agenda or issue to focus on other than the Hindu-Muslim divide."

The statement comes amid ongoing political and legal debates over the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque complex, which is revered by Hindus as a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati and used by Muslims for Friday prayers.

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday ruled that the religious character of the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex was that of Bhojshala, a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), dating back to the Bhoj-Parmar dynasty.

The court also partially set aside the Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) April 7, 2003 order, which had permitted the Muslim community to offer Namaz at the site on Fridays.

ASI lawyer Aviral Vikas Khare said the Bhojshala complex would continue to remain under the protection and supervision of the ASI.

"The entire administration and regulation of this monument shall remain exclusively with the ASI," Khare said.

Meanwhile, two caveat petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court of India, anticipating a possible challenge to the High Court verdict by the Muslim side.

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