New Delhi8 minutes ago
According to the law, a place of worship of any religion which came into existence before August 15, 1947 cannot be converted into a place of worship of any other religion.
Congress has filed an application in the Supreme Court against the petitions challenging the Places of Worship Act of 1991.
In the petition filed through Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal, the party said- This law was in our manifesto in 1991. This is necessary to protect secularism.
Earlier on January 2, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s petition related to the place of worship law. In the petition, Owaisi has demanded implementation of the Places of Worship Act of 1991.
According to the law, a place of worship of any religion which came into existence before August 15, 1947 cannot be converted into a place of worship of any other religion.
The new petitions by Congress and Owaisi have been clubbed with six other cases pending on the issue. All these will be heard on February 17.
The last hearing on 6 petitions related to the case was held on December 12. On December 12, a 3-member bench of the Supreme Court heard the petitions filed on the validity of some sections of the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions) 1991.
The bench had said, “We are examining the scope, powers and structure of this law. In such a situation, it would be appropriate that all other courts keep their hands off.”
During the hearing, CJI Sanjeev Khanna said- We have two cases before us, Shahi Idgah of Mathura and Gyanvapi Masjid of Varanasi. Then the court was told that more than 18 such cases were pending in the country. Of these, 10 are associated with mosques. After this, the Supreme Court asked the Central Government to present its stand on the petitions within 4 weeks.
CJI Sanjeev Khanna said- We cannot hear until the Center files its reply. No such new case should be filed till our further orders.
Arguments in favor and against the petition
- Hindu side: BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, Subramaniam Swamy, storyteller Devkinandan Thakur, Princess Krishna Priya of Kashi, religious leader Swami Jitendranand Saraswati, retired army officer Anil Kabotra, Advocate Chandrashekhar, Rudra Vikram Singh, Varanasi and some others have filed the petition. These people violated the Places of Worship Act-1991 demanded to be declared unconstitutional Is.
- Muslim side: Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, Indian Muslim Personal Law Board, Anjuman Intejamia Masjid Committee that manages Gyanvapi Masjid, RJD MPs Manoj Jha and Asaduddin Owaisi have also filed petitions in this matter. Jamiat argues that considering the petitions against the Act will lead to a flood of cases against mosques across the country.
Why was this law made? Actually, this was the period when the Ram Mandir movement was at its peak. BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani took out a Rath Yatra from Somnath on 25 September 1990. It was to reach Ayodhya on 29 October, but on 23 October he was arrested in Samastipur, Bihar. The order to arrest was given by Janata Dal Chief Minister Lalu Yadav. The effect of this arrest was that the Janata Dal’s VP Singh government at the Center fell, which was running with the support of the BJP.
After this, Chandrashekhar separated from VP Singh and formed the government with the support of Congress, but this too could not last long. Fresh elections were held and the Congress government came to power at the centre. PV Narasimha Rao became the Prime Minister. Due to the increasing influence of the Ram Mandir movement, many other temple-mosque disputes started arising along with Ayodhya. The Narasimha Rao government had brought this law to put an end to these disputes.
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