Four Hindutva men held for performing puja at heritage madrasa in Bidar, Karnataka.

Hindu organizations enter ASI protected  Mahmood Gawan Madrasa in Bidar for performing puja. 4 arrested. But why?

B Upendran | HENB | Bidar | Oct 8, 2022:: Bidar police arrested four Hindu persons for allegedly barging into a madrasa in Old Bidar city, and performing prayers in the early hours on Thursday. Video footage, which has gone viral on social media, shows that a large number of Hindu people left the procession of Bhavani Devi, and entered the premises of the 15th century ASI-protected Mahmood Gawan monument, where a Madrasa and mosque are located.

People take out the Bhavani Devi procession every year in Old Bidar city, but so far, large number of people  has not entered the madrasa to perform puja, sources said.

At around 2 am in the morning scores of people from the Dussera procession entered the historic Mahmood Gawan Madrasa and sprinkling Kum Kum on a rock, believed as a symbol of Hindu deities.

Bidar SP Dekka Kishor Babu told the media that there has been a ritual of offering prayers inside the ASI monument in Bidar. “Every year, a small group enters the same premises and perform puja, but this time, a large one entered. The lock of the gate was not broken by the people. Four people have been arrested, and a case has been registered against many people. The people used to offer prayers to a tree near the monument during Nag Panchami every year, and puja is performed annually before a pillar on Dasara, after the tree was axed due to during road-widening work,’’ the SP said.

It is reported that there are some signs of Hindu tradition on which the devotees offer prayer with the permission of the authority twice in a year. But, that rituals were stopped for last two years due to Covid-19 situation.

In his complaint to Bidar Town police station, one Mohammad Shafiyoiddin Bismilla (69) said, “The group entered the ASI monument Mahmood Gawan Madrasa and Masjid illegally by breaking the lock, and threatening security personnel. The people in the group have been shouting slogans against the country and trying to instigate people.’’ A police jeep and police personnel were allegedly present at the spot during the incident. When asked why no action was taken, the SP said he would take note of it. Meanwhile, people staged a dharna in front of the police station, demanding stringent action against the accused.

The Historic Mahmood Gawan Madrasa, constructed in 1460s, in Bidar Karnataka is believed to be Asia’s first Islamic university, having students from across the world, the whole building except the mosque is an archeological monument.

The controversy started after people raised slogans in enthusiasm. When the Muslim side objected to this matter, the police also took action. In this case, FIR has been registered against 70 people and 4 people have been arrested.

It is being said on behalf of Hindu organizations that they have not done anything which does not happen there before. Hindu organizations allege that the police have taken action against Hindus under the pressure of Muslim society. Hindu Janajagruti Samiti leader Mohan Gowda said that devotees of Bhavani Mata used to worship at that place earlier also. “This time it is a propaganda that we entered the mosque forcibly. Due to this, an FIR was also registered against the devotees under Muslim pressure, which we condemn. Our demand is that the FIR against the devotees should be quashed and the culture of capturing historical buildings through land jihad should stop.

Sri Rama Sena leader Siddha Lingaswamy while speaking on the matter said, ‘The tradition of worshiping at the site of the Peepal tree in the Mahmud Gawan Madrasa premises has been going on for a long time. On the day of Vijayadashami also, people went to worship according to tradition, but the people of the Muslim community tried to stop them from doing so. People see this place as a temple of Lakshmi and the people of the Muslim community have done the work of hurting the faith of Hindus by stopping them.

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__Inputs from TNIE, THG & ABC News..