Siddaramaiah alleges RSS giving communal colour to COVID-19 by blaming Tablighi for spread
Bengaluru: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday alleged the RSS was giving a communal colour to the coronavirus issue in India by blaming the Tablighi Jamaat for the COVID-19 spread,prompting a strong rebuttal from the BJP.
"Today they are doing politics alleging that it is spreading through Tablighi in India.
... Giving political colour to the issue is RSS strategy.It is communal politics at play," Siddaramaiah, who is the Congress Legislature Party leader, said at a press conference.
Hitting out at the Centre, he wanted to know who gave the permission for the Tablighi Jamat to hold the conference.
"...Wasn't that Centre? In whose hand is Delhi police? The event happened next to a police station."
"If you look at the permission given to Tablighi, it makes it clear that there is a conspiracy behind it," he added.
According to him, the first mistake was to give permission to the international conference and the second mistake was to allow it to continue when the coronavirus had taken the shape of a pandemic.
Refuting Siddaramaiah's allegation, the state BJP spokesperson S Prakash told PTI: "Siddaramaiah should know that the Station House Officer of the police station where the Tablighi Jamaat congregation took place had called the organisers and directed them to wind up the event but they did not heed."
He said the government had asked those who attended the congregation to come for medical examination but many disappeared and did not turn up.
Speaking on the issue of migrant workers, Siddaramaiah slammed the Centre for the poor handling of the coronavirus situation.
A religious congregation in Delhi of the Jamaat in March in which thousands of people from India and abroad had participated has emerged as the biggest coronavirus hotspot.
Many of these people have tested positive for the virus. The Congress leader alleged the government failed to act immediately when the virus was spreading across the globe.
Speaking about the migrant workers' issue, he claimed the centre did not release money from the PM-CARES fund to pay for the migrant workers stuck all over the country including 5.5 lakh workers in Karnataka.
He said the PM CARES has got a fund of Rs 35,000 crore including Rs 3,500 crore from Karnataka and the centre could have used the fund for the migrant workers instead of charging money from them.
"For 5.5 lakh workers, it may not cost more than Rs 55 crore.
What disease are they suffering from (to fund the travel expenses)?"
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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.
