Seers’ organisation to meet on 'liberating' Krishna Janmasthan in Mathura

Allahabad/Mathura, September 28

A major organisation of seers will meet in Vrindavan on October 15 to decide whether it should become a party to the legal move seeking the removal of a mosque near the birthplace of Lord Krishna in Mathura.

Last week, a group of people moved a Mathura court over the 17th century Shahi Idgah mosque they claim was built at the birthplace of Krishna, within the 13-acre premises of the Katra Keshav Dev temple.

Their petition filed in the court of Senior Civil Judge Chhaya Sharma also demanded the annulment of a 1968 Mathura court ruling, ratifying a land deal reached between the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan and Shahi Idgah Management Committee.

The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad office bearers will now visit the Krishna Janmasthan to take stock of the situation, its president Narendra Giri told PTI.

He said the organisation will make a decision at its Vrindavan meeting on becoming a party to the lawsuit.

In a reference to the mosques located near Hindu temples, he said the ‘parishad’ has been advocating the “liberation” of the Krishna Janmasthan and the Kashi Viswanath temple in Varanasi.

However, another body of priests had on Sunday condemned the filing of the petition for the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque.

The Akhil Bharatiya Tirth Purohit Mahasabha president Mahesh Pathak said “some outsiders” are trying to disturb the peace in Mathura by raising a frivolous temple-mosque issue.

“There is no temple-mosque dispute in Mathura at Srikrishna Janmasthan after a compromise between both the parties in the 20th century,” he said.

The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 froze the status of religious places as it existed at the time of Independence. The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure was exempted from the law’s purview. PTI