HC notice to Centre, Karnataka govt on Madrasa operated inside ASI protected mosque
Bengaluru (PTI): The High Court of Karnataka has ordered issuance of notices to the state and central governments on a PIL petition alleging that a Madrasa was being illegally run in the premises of an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected mosque in Srirangapatna in Mandya district.
A division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit heard the petition by Abishek Gowda on Wednesday and issued notices to the respondents to file their objections and adjourned the hearing.
The petitioner alleged that the Madrasa inside the Juma Masjid in Srirangapatna had damaged the original structure with the construction of structural alterations, demolition of compound, construction of toilets, destruction of ancient carvings besides cooking and consumption of food daily.
"All the above acts are totally illegal and a violation of Section 7, Rule 7 & 8 of the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains Act and Rules," he claimed.
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The petitioner further submitted that the office bearers of Bajarang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad had requested the authorities concerned to take action in this regard in 2022 and also filed a police complaint but to no avail.
In its reply to an RTI application filed by the petitioner seeking information on the Madrasa inside the mosque, the ASI said no permission was granted to run a Madrasa inside the protected site.
The petitioner has sought a court direction to the ASI to remove illegal structures in the mosque and shut the madrasa illegally operating in it.
As there was no response to his pleas to the Archeological Survey of India, the state and central governments, the petitioner moved the court.
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Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday vowed to continue her fight against the alleged omission of voters' names in the ongoing SIR, saying she apprehended a "conspiracy" to delete over 1.2 crore names from the final electoral rolls of the state citing logical discrepancies.
Noting that 58 lakh names of voters were omitted after the first phase of the Special Summary Revision (SIR) exercise, Banerjee alleged, "Under the pretext of logical discrepancies, names of at least 20 lakh additional genuine voters were surreptitiously removed after February 14, the hearing deadline".
Speaking at a government function in Bhabanipur in South Kolkata, her own assembly constituency, from where she inaugurated and laid foundation stones for multiple infrastructure projects in the state worth Rs 850 crore, Banerjee declared she would continue to stand with voters whose names are likely to be deleted "unfairly".
"There is a conspiracy to remove 80 lakh names from the electoral rolls which is scheduled to be published on February 28. Subsequently, there is an attempt to remove another 40 lakh voters from the electoral rolls through the supplementary lists," she said, without directly naming the Election Commission.
"We do not know what kind of voters' list will be published on 28 February. Even after the deadline of 14 February had passed, attempts to delete names continued," she added.
The CM said she approached the Supreme Court to stop the unfair deletions and, despite the apex court orders, the "diabolical game plan" hadn't stopped.
"I do not look at the political affiliation or religion of voters. I only want to ensure that people's rights are not taken away and that democratic values remain intact. I oppose the deletion of any legitimate voter. Despite the Supreme Court's order issued four to five days ago, nothing has happened so far. I say jio aur jiney do (live and let live)," Banerjee said.
The TMC supremo maintained that she was distraught with how people may feel if their names do not appear on the February 28 list.
"I pray for them in front of the Manastambha. Please do not allow the rights of the people to be taken away. If the rights of all legitimate voters are restored, I will return here to express my gratitude in front of this Manastambha," the chief minister said, standing beforethe Jain stambha (pillar) she earlier inaugurated at the community temple in the area.
She also inaugurated the Sant Kutia Gurdwara Gate for the Sikhs in Kolkata and laid the foundation stone for a Minority Centre that will be built in New Town at a cost of Rs 28.77 crore, for which, she said, land has already been allotted.
"All minority communities -- Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists -- will be able to organise programmes there. Many Punjabi brothers and sisters had requested the construction of the Sant Kutiya Gurdwara Gate, and I have honoured that promise," she said.
The projects also included a 100-bed mother and child hub at the Muslim pilgrimage site Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district, a rural hospital at Gosaba in the Sunderbans, a new fire brigade station in Tollygunge, Kolkata, 100 AC and 20 non-AC CNG buses to be run by the state transport department.
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