Four PFI leaders in Mangaluru detained by NIA, post-raid
Surathkal: Four leaders of the Popular Front of India (PFI) were detained by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Mangaluru on Thursday morning.
NIA personnel have detained PFI leaders Nawaz of Kavoor, A K Ashraf of Bajpe Jokatte, Moideen of Haleyangadi and Ashraf of Kankanady. While Nawaz, A K Ashraf and Moideen were detained on the spot, Ashraf of Kankanady, who had gone to New Delhi, was detained at the national capital, said the sources.
The detention followed a raid by the NIA on the homes and offices of the PFI leaders in Kankanady, Haleyangadi, Jokatte and Kavoor in Mangaluru and on the offices of the SDPI leaders. The NIA conducted the raids simultaneously at around 3:30 am on Thursday.
In addition, the offices of both PFI and SDPI leaders situated near Nellikai Road in the State Bank area of Mangaluru were raided by the NIA personnel.
The agency personnel also confiscated the mobile phones of all the residents of the houses for further investigation. The NIA raided and searched the house of Moideen’s mother also on the occasion, it is learned.
SDPI district president Abubakar Kulai, who spoke to reporters, said, “The NIA has given no clear reason for the raid on the SDPI offices. The personnel have conducted an unaccountable search at our offices. When asked for the grounds for the raid on the SDPI offices, the personnel have merely justified that it is a raid on a PFI office.”
The president expressed further dissatisfaction on the confiscation of materials. “The NIA personnel have taken away the SDPI office building rent agreement document, our laptops as well as some photographs related to our organization rather than confiscating any official record,” he added.
“In addition to an unauthorized raid on our offices, the NIA staff members have destroyed work materials here. We will fight it out in court,” Kulai stated.
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Bhojshala complex registered as 'mosque' in old revenue records: Muslim side to MP HC
Indore (PTI): The disputed Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex has historically been registered as a 'mosque' in revenue records and available sources don't clearly mention any Saraswati temple established by then-king Raja Bhoj, the Muslim side has told the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The Hindu community considers Bhojshala a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, while the Muslim side calls the 11th-century monument Kamal Maula Mosque. The disputed complex located in Dhar district is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
During the hearing before the HC's Indore bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi on Wednesday, Qazi Moinuddin questioned two PILs filed as intervenors in the Bhojshala case by an organisation named Hindu Front for Justice, one Kuldeep Tiwari and another individual.
Moinuddin claims to be a descendant of Sufi saint Maulana Kamaluddin Chishti and the 'Sajjadanashin' (spiritual head, guru, or successor of a Sufi shrine, khanqah, or religious site).
The PILs state that Bhojshala is actually a Saraswati temple and only Hindus should be granted the right to worship at the disputed complex.
Moinuddin's lawyer, Noor Ahmed Sheikh, claimed in the court that his client's ancestors, who are descendants of Maulana Kamaluddin Chishti, have historically held titles to the complex, and the site was also recorded as a "mosque" in government revenue records.
He contended that those associated with the management of the Kamal Maula Mosque, located within the complex, have been in "continuous and peaceful occupation" of the site for a long time.
Citing Muslim law, Sheikh argued that in the case of religious property, particularly a mosque or its related properties, officials such as the Sajjadanashin and Mutawalli (person entrusted with management, maintenance, and administration of a Waqf), and their descendants, not only have the right to intervene, but also have the right to manage and use such a structure.
Citing provisions of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904, the Muslim side's lawyer said the term "in-charge of the property" is used in this law, which makes it clear that the person or party who has been in charge of a property for a long time has rights over it.
During the hearing, Touseef Warsi, the lawyer representing the Maulana Kamaluddin Welfare Society of Dhar, claimed that Hindu parties in both PILs had made "misleading representations" regarding historical facts before the high court.
He further claimed that available historical sources do not clearly mention the existence of a Saraswati temple established by Raja Bhoj, the legendary king of the Parmar dynasty who ruled Dhar from 1010 to 1055.
The ASI, a central government agency, has adopted three different positions in the lawsuits filed regarding the Bhojshala dispute, changing its answers from time to time, and this situation raises serious questions about judicial scrutiny of the complex, Warsi submitted.
He raised objections regarding the ASI's process of scientific survey of the Bhojshala complex, carried out on the HC order in 2024, and the method of videography and requested the court to examine these objections.
The hearing in the Bhojshala case will continue on Thursday.
The HC has been regularly hearing four petitions and one writ appeal since April 6, contesting the religious nature of the monument.
