The%20Gyanvapi%20mosque%20at%20Kashi%20and%20a%2017th%20century%20mosque%2C%20which%20stands%20adjacent%20to%20the%20Krishna%20Janmabhoomi%20in%20Mathura%2C%20have%20for%20long%20been%20an%20eyesore%20for%20the%20Rashtriya%20Swayamsevak%20Sangh%20%28RSS%29%2C%20the%20Vishwa%20Hindu%20Parishad%20%28VHP%29%20and%20the%20Bajrang%20Dal.%20The%20Hindu%20outfits%20first%20ran%20a%20decades-long%20movement%20which%20culminated%20in%20the%20demolition%20of%20the%20Babri%20Masjid%20in%20Ayodhya.%20A%20favourable%20judgment%20in%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20then%20paved%20the%20way%20for%20Ram%20temple%20construction%20at%20the%20site.
With%20the%20Ayodhya%20issue%20settled%20in%20their%20favour%2C%20the%20focus%20has%20now%20shifted%20to%20the%20mosques%20at%20Varanasi%20and%20Mathura.%20Seshadri%20Chari%2C%20a%20member%20of%20BJP%u2019s%20national%20Executive%20Committee%20and%20former%20Editor%20of%20the%20Organiser%2C%20said%20in%20an%20article%20carried%20by%20The%20Print%20in%20August%202020%2C%20%u201CThe%20Ayodhya%20verdict%2C%20and%20the%20presence%20of%20strong%20governments%20at%20the%20Centre%20and%20in%20the%20State%2C%20has%20further%20raised%20the%20hopes%20of%20already%20assertive%20Hindus.
With%20the%20groundbreaking%20ceremony%20performed%20in%20Ayodhya%20without%20hitches%2C%20one-third%20of%20the%20original%20agenda%20of%20the%20BJP%20and%20the%20RSS%20of%20laying%20claim%20to%20the%20three%20important%20sacred%20Hindu%20spaces%20has%20been%20achieved.%20The%20%u201Cliberation%u201D%20of%20Kashi%20and%20Mathura%20may%20not%20even%20need%20an%20agitation.%u201D
Also%20Read%20%7C%20%3Ca%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20rel%3D%22noopener%20noreferrer%22%20href%3D%22https%3A//opoyi.com/what-prompted-up-to-mull-ordinance-on-religious-places%22%3E%3Cstrong%3EWhat%20prompted%20UP%20to%20mull%20ordinance%20on%20religious%20places%3F%3C/strong%3E%3C/a%3E
He%20also%20wrote%20that%20%u201Cthe%20Ayodhya%20verdict%20doesn%u2019t%20pronounce%20any%20preconditions%20for%20the%20Hindus—like%20requiring%20them%20to%20forego%20their%20claims%20on%20other%20places%20of%20worship%2C%20faith%20or%20identity.%u201D
The%20only%20hurdle%20to%20be%20tackled%20in%20getting%20control%20of%20%u201Cother%20places%20of%20worship%2C%20faith%20or%20identity%u201D%20is%20the%20Places%20of%20Worship%20%28Special%20Provisions%29%20Act%20of%201991.%20The%20Act%20prohibits%20%u201Cconversion%20of%20any%20place%20of%20worship%20and%20provides%20for%20the%20maintenance%20of%20religious%20character%20of%20any%20place%20of%20worship%20as%20it%20existed%20on%20August%2015%2C%201947%u201D.
A%20BJP%20leader%20Ashwini%20Kumar%20Upadhyay%20has%20filed%20a%20petition%20in%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20stating%20that%20the%201991%20Act%20takes%20away%20rights%20of%20Hindus%2C%20Jains%2C%20Buddhists%20and%20Sikhs%20to%20reclaim%20their%20places%20of%20worship%20through%20courts.%20With%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20having%20issued%20notices%20on%20Upadhyay%u2019s%20petition%2C%20a%20legal%20battle%20could%20be%20in%20the%20offing%20for%20gaining%20control%20over%20thousands%20of%20other%20contentious%20sites%2C%20virtually%20opening%20a%20Pandora%u2019s%20Box%20in%20the%20name%20of%20undoing%20destructive%20acts%20of%20medieval%20invaders.
Also%20Read%20%7C%20%3Ca%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20rel%3D%22noopener%20noreferrer%22%20href%3D%22https%3A//opoyi.com/babri-masjid-demolition-stunned-silence-then-the-buzz%22%3E%3Cstrong%3EStunned%20silence%20and%20then…%20%3A%20What%20a%20newsroom%20was%20like%20on%20Babri%20demolition%20day%3C/strong%3E%3C/a%3E
There%u2019s%2C%20however%2C%20no%20clarity%20on%20just%20how%20many%20mosques%20are%20on%20the%20BJP%u2019s%20radar.%20In%202016%2C%20Bharatiya%20Janata%20Party%20leader%20Subramaniam%20Swamy%20said%20to%20Muslims%2C%20%u201CGive%20us%20three%20temples%2C%20keep%2039%2C997%20mosques%u201D.%20Assam%20MP%20Maulana%20Badruddin%20Ajmal%20claimed%20at%20an%20election%20rally%20in%20January%20that%20the%20BJP%20would%20demolish%203%2C500%20mosques%20if%20it%20succeeds%20in%20forming%20the%20government%20at%20the%20Centre.
As%20of%20now%20the%20focus%20is%20on%20Kashi%20and%20Mathura%20with%20a%20spate%20of%20cases%20having%20been%20filed%20in%20courts%20of%20the%20two%20districts.%20A%20suit%20has%20been%20filed%20in%20a%20Varanasi%20court%20seeking%20worshipping%20rights%20in%20the%20temple%20of%20Lord%20Adi%20Visheshwar%20and%20Goddess%20Maa%20Shringar%20Gauri%20located%20in%20the%20Gyanvapi%20mosque.%20The%20Allahabad%20High%20Court%20is%20set%20to%20hear%20a%20plea%20against%20the%20maintainability%20of%20the%20case.%20In%20Mathura%2C%20additional%20district%20and%20sessions%20judge%20Dev%20Kant%20Shukla%20admitted%20a%20plea%20for%20the%20removal%20of%20the%20mosque%20near%20the%20birthplace%20of%20Lord%20Krishna.%20According%20to%20the%20judge%20the%20plea%20was%20maintainable%2C%20therefore%2C%20admissible.%20Besides%20this%2C%20there%20are%20three%20other%20cases%20pending%20before%20courts%20in%20Mathura.%20The%20lawyer%20in%20one%20of%20these%20suits%20is%20HS%20Jain%2C%20who%20is%20also%20representing%20plaintiffs%20in%20the%20Gyanvapi%20case%20in%20Varanasi.
These%20are%20well%20thought%20of%20moves.%20Take%20the%20matter%20to%20court%20and%20then%20persuade%20Muslims%20to%20accept%20the%20court%u2019s%20verdict.%20Being%20civil%20suits%20they%20may%20drag%20on%20for%20decades%20as%20happened%20in%20the%20case%20of%20Ram%20Janmbhoomi%20but%2C%20as%20Chari%20said%2C%20an%20agitation%20may%20not%20be%20required%20to%20free%20these%20places.
Also%20Read%20%7C%20%3Ca%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20rel%3D%22noopener%20noreferrer%22%20href%3D%22https%3A//opoyi.com/in-hathras-rape-and-murder-a-big-question-mark-on-the-role-up-police-played%22%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20Hathras%20rape%20and%20murder%2C%20a%20big%20question%20mark%20on%20the%20role%20UP%20police%20played%3C/strong%3E%3C/a%3E
Interestingly%2C%20even%20before%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20takes%20up%20Upadhyay%u2019s%20petition%20for%20hearing%20a%20suit%20has%20been%20filed%20before%20the%20Civil%20Judge%20Senior%20Division%20at%20Saket%20District%20Court%20claiming%20that%20Qutub%20Complex%2C%20where%20the%20famous%20Qutub%20Minar%20is%20located%2C%20originally%20housed%2027%20Jain%20and%20Hindu%20temples%20which%20were%20destroyed%20by%20Qutb-ud-din%20Aibak%20in%20the%2012th%20century.%20The%20case%20has%20been%20filed%20on%20behalf%20of%20Lord%20Vishnu%20and%20Lord%20Rishabh%20Dev.%20The%20plaintiff%20has%20demanded%20worshipping%20rights.
This%20sudden%20upsurge%20in%20cases%20by%20Hindus%20for%20worshipping%20rights%20over%20Gyanvapi%2C%20Mathura%20and%20Qutub%20Complex%20will%20keep%20the%20nation%20on%20tenterhooks%20apprehending%20a%20communally%20charged%20future.
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%3Ci%3EDisclaimer%3A%20The%20views%20expressed%20in%20this%20article%20are%20personal.%20They%20do%20not%20reflect%20the%20opinions%20or%20views%20of%20Opoyi.%3C/i%3E
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