Bhojshala verdict: Fresh plea seeks removal of 'unauthorised Islamic symbols', excavation at complex & no entry fee

NEW DELHI: Days after the Madhya Pradesh high court's verdict declaring Dhar's Bhojshala complex as the temple of Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), a fresh petition has been filed by members of the Hindu side seeking free entry for devotees and further excavation at the site.According to the petitioners, not even the existing Re 1 entry fee should be charged from worshippers visiting the complex.Petitioner Ashish Goyal, associated with the 'Hindu Front for Justice', submitted an application to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday demanding unrestricted free access to devotees. He argued that charging an entry fee amounted to 'disobedience' of the May 15 high court order recognising the site as a temple.Goyal also sought the immediate opening of a locked room located in the south-eastern section of the Bhojshala complex, claiming it was part of the original temple structure. In his application, he further demanded the removal of what he described as 'unauthorised Islamic symbols' from the premises in view of the court ruling.In a separate application sent to the union culture ministry and the ASI, another petitioner, Kuldeep Tiwari, called for a scientific excavation of the site. Tiwari claimed there was a strong local belief that idols of Lord Hanuman and other Hindu deities were buried beneath the complex and sought their retrieval and reinstallation through religious rituals.The fresh demands come days after the Madhya Pradesh high court recognised the disputed Bhojshala complex as a Vagdevi temple and quashed the ASI’s April 7, 2003 order that had allowed Muslims to offer namaz at the site on Fridays while permitting Hindu worship only on Tuesdays.Following the verdict, the ASI on May 16 granted Hindus unrestricted access to the monument for worship and other purposes.In its May 15 judgment, a division bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi observed that historical records and literature established Bhojshala as a centre of Sanskrit learning associated with Raja Bhoj of the Parmar dynasty and indicated the existence of a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati at the site."We have noted the continuity of Hindu worship at the site through regulated worship over time, which has never been extinguished," the court said.The high court also suggested that the government may consider bringing back the idol of Goddess Vagdevi from the British Museum in London. At the same time, it observed that the Maulana Kamaluddin Welfare Society or any new Waqf body may seek alternate land in Dhar for the establishment of a mosque.Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, appearing for the Hindu side, had described the ruling as a 'historic verdict' and said the court had recognised the Bhojshala complex as belonging to Raja Bhoj while granting Hindus the right to worship.The legal dispute centres around the religious character of the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district. Hindus maintain that the site is a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), while Muslims consider it the Kamal Maula mosque.Soon after the high court ruling, two caveat pleas were also filed in the Supreme Court by members of the Hindu side anticipating a possible challenge to the verdict by the Muslim side. The pleas sought a direction that no order be passed by the apex court without hearing them first.