New Delhi: A Mughal-era mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district was on Tuesday (November 19) surveyed by an advocate commissioner on the orders of a local civil court which acted on a petition filed by Hindu activists claiming the Islamic religious site was originally a prominent Hindu temple dedicated to an avatar of Vishnu.

The managing committee of the Shahi Jama Masjid as well as the local Muslim population were astounded by the tearing hurry displayed by the advocate commissioner Ramesh Raghav in initiating the survey proceedings within a few hours after the court’s directions.

Photography and videography of the mosque premises were carried out during the survey which lasted for one and a half to two hours, according to different sources. The proceedings were carried out in the presence of the district magistrate and the district police chief.

Civil judge senior division Aditya Singh directed the survey of the mosque after an application was filed by eight plaintiffs, led by pro-Hindutva lawyer Hari Shankar Jain and Hindu seer Mahant Rishiraj Giri, as part of a civil suit claiming right for access into the mosque.

Here are the 8 plaintiffs in the civil suit seeking access to the #ShahiJamaMasjid in #Sambhal, UP claiming that it used to be an ancient #Kalki Temple.

Hari Shankar Jain, Parth Yadav, Mahant Rishiraj Giri, Rakesh Kumar, Jitpal Yadav, Madanpal, Ved Pal Singh and Deenanath. pic.twitter.com/i4rXuMFaQ6

— Omar Rashid (@omar7rashid) November 20, 2024

The mosque, claimed to have been built on the directions of the first Mughal emperor Babar, is acknowledged as a “historic monument” on the official website of the Sambhal district. The Hindu petitioners, however, claimed that the mosque was the site of an ancient temple dedicated........

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