Agra: A local court Monday issued notices to UP Central Waqf Board and other stakeholders after allowing a plea by Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Sanrakshit Seva Trust to recover the idol of Lord Keshavdev which it claimed were buried under the steps of Jama Masjid in Agra.
The petition was filed on 11 May on behalf of the trust’s chairman Manoj Kumar Pandey.
On Monday, the court issued notices to the Intazamia Committee of the Shahi Masjid Agra Fort, Chhoti Masjid Diwan-e-Khas, the secretary of Jahanara Begum Masjid Agra Fort, the Waqf Board chairman and the Secretary of Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan asking them to respond by the end of May.
The development comes weeks after Devkinandan Thakur, a religious preacher from Mathura, claimed at a ‘Bhagwat Katha’ in Agra that the idols of Lord Keshavdev be returned to the Hindus. Thakur is also the patron of the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Sanrakshit Seva Trust.
“Every day, the Muslims trample the idols when they enter the mosque for Namaz, which is an insult to the Hindu society. Since the Muslims did not pay heed to the appeal of Thakur Devkinandan to allow the stairs to be dug up and the idols of the deity recovered, going to the court was the final resort,” Pandey told ThePrint.
He further claimed that he has ample evidence of the idols lying buried under the stairs of the mosque.
“There are many historical accounts that prove that Aurangzeb had demolished the temple of Keshavdev in 1670 and buried the idol under the steps of the Jama Masjid in Agra. Many historians, including those from Aurangzeb’s reign, have described the episode in their books. The idols should be recovered, so that they can be taken to Mathura and be worshipped,” he told ThePrint.
Pandey asserted that he would produce contents of a book written during Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s rule before the court to bolster his claim.
In solidarity, he said, the Trust was willing to bear all the expenses of digging up the stairs and restoring them to their initial state
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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