MANDYA/SHIVAMOGGA: Weeks after staging a protest in front of Jamia Masjid in Srirangapatna — 18km from Mysuru and the capital of erstwhile ruler Tipu Sultan — urging the Karnataka government to stop the ASI site from being used as a prayer hall, a group of activists have submitted a petition to the Mandya deputy commissioner seeking permission to offer pooja at the mosque.
The activists are office-bearers of Narendra Modi Vichar Manch and argued that the mosque was built where a Hanuman temple once stood. They further said Hindu deities are still inside Jamia Masjid.
As per a Persian inscription found inside the masjid, Tipu Sultan is said to have built the mosque around 1782. Two minarets were used as watchtowers during his reign. A madrassa is now being run at the masjid, and the structure is being maintained by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The activists alleged that Tipu destroyed a Hanuman temple and built the masjid, which, they claimed, is well documented in many books. They claimed that Tipu had written a letter to a ruler in Persia admitting it. The masjid has Hindu inscriptions on its pillars and walls, they said in support of their argument. Manch state secretary CT Manjunath said the administration must allow Hindus to offer pooja to the Hindu deities at the masjid since there’s “documented evidence of a temple existing earlier”.
Former Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa claimed Muslim leaders, too, have accepted that a temple preceded a mosque. He said about 36,000 temples were demolished or damaged during the Mughal rule. “Without creating any trouble, we will reclaim all of them in accordance with SC rule,” he said.
