Aligarh civil judge’s court is set to hear a petition filed on Monday claiming the presence of archaeological evidence relating to a Buddhist Stupa, a Jain temple and a Shiv temple inside Uparkot Jama Masjid in Aligarh. The petition has been filed by filed by RTI activist Pandit Keshav Dev Gautam. The hearing of the petition is scheduled for February 15.
Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh: Pandit Keshav Dev Gautam, an RTI activist, filed a petition in the Civil Judge’s Court regarding the location of Aligarh’s Jama Masjid, citing the existence of a Buddhist Stupa, Shiva Temple, and Jain Temple. The court will hear the petition on February 15… pic.twitter.com/tKQIqvjELS
— IANS (@ians_india) January 7, 2025
Pandit Keshav Dev Gautam is the national president of a party named Anti-Corruption Army. He filed several RTI petitions in different departments to find out details about the origin of the mosque.
In an RTI petition filed by him before the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), he found that the ASI had discovered evidence indicating the presence of a Buddhist Stupa, a Shiv temple and a Jain temple inside the mosque. Besides, the Uparkot mosque committee has also been declared illegal by an order of the ASI.
Another RTI petition was filed by him before the Aligarh Municipal Corporation inquiring about the ownership of the land on which the mosque is built and details relating to the construction of the mosque. The response to his RTI petition reportedly revealed that the mosque was built on public land without government approval and that no details regarding its construction are available. There are no records about the ownership of the mosque.
Based on all the information that he received through his RTI petitions, Gautam decided to approach the civil court claiming that the Uparkot Jama Masjid is actually built on an ancient site of temples.
Notably, last year in December, the Supreme Court passed an order prohibiting all courts from passing any interim or final orders, including directions for survey, in any ongoing cases concerning any existing religious structures, as the apex court is hearing petitions challenging the legality of the Places of Worship Act that prevents recovering ancient temples converted to mosques.
Aligarh civil judge’s court is set to hear a petition filed on Monday claiming the presence of archaeological evidence relating to a Buddhist Stupa, a Jain temple and a Shiv temple inside Uparkot Jama Masjid in Aligarh.
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