'Adina Masjid' or 'Adinath Mandir': Issue Triggers Political Row in Bengal's Malda

The 'mandir-masjid' issue came to the limelight after a Hindu priest, who claimed 'Adina Masjid' is actually 'Adinath Mandir', was stopped from offering puja at the site in Malda. A political debate has risen between the TMC and the BJP with the ruling party accusing the saffron party of disturbing communal harmony while the latter has alleged the former of duplicity.

Malda (West Bengal):With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the claims of 'Adina Masjid' being erstwhile 'Adinath Mandir' has triggered a political row in West Bengal's Malda district.

The issue surfaced after a priest, Hiranmoy Goswami led a group of Hindus to the site of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-listed monument, 'Adina Masjid' in Malda and performed puja there. Goswami, who is president of the Vishwavidyalaya Trust in Vrindavan claimed that Hindu deities and a 'Shivling' had been spotted at the site.

After the matter was reported by the local Muslims, police stopped Goswami leading to a heated argument with the latter questioning the ground on which they were being restricted. Finally, the ASI, which maintains the structure, lodged a complaint at Malda police station and an FIR was registered against Goswami.

A video clip, which ETV Bharat has not verified, has recently gone viral where a police officer in plain clothes, identified as Nabin Chandra Poddar, is seen arguing with Goswami about his attempts to perform puja inside the structure. It also shows Goswami and a few others performing rituals around a stone structure claiming it was a part of the 'Shivling'.

"The history of the Adina Masjid is known to all and also well documented. There was never any temple here. The area would be bustling during the Sultanate era, but turned desolate after an earthquake. Since then, the mosque gradually lost its sheen and was shut down. Later, the central government took over the structure and ASI has been maintaining it. Neither any Muslim offers namaz inside the structure, nor does any Hindu perform puja. Suddenly this video has cropped up from nowhere. Many tried to resist the person who was trying to offer puja inside the structure. There were many Hindu brothers among them. We don't know if there is any politics in all this, but we want peace. We want the structure to be maintained by the ASI," said Mohammed Jamil Akhtar, the Imam of Kutubshah Jame Masjid, which is located near Adina Masjid.

District Trinamool Congress vice-president Dulal Sarkar said, "India is a big country and there is a lot of scope for research in India's medieval and modern history. But it has become a habit of one particular political party to stoke religious sentiments before every election. Any priest can worship at any place of choice, but why choose a place like Adina Masjid and that too, ahead of the elections? Acts like these can disturb communal harmony in Malda. The police are monitoring the situation closely."

BJP has accused the ruling TMC of practising duplicity to woo minority voters ahead of the elections. "We have no religious agenda here. The matter is more social in nature. Today India has made a mark of itself globally. Not only Adina, people will try to restore the lost glory of all the sites that were tarnished during foreign rule. TMC and its dubious agenda is clear," Parthasarathi Ghosh, president of BJP's South Malda organisational district said.

The structure has been embroiled in a long drawn controversy. In May 2022, the then state BJP vice-president Rathindra Bose took to social media claiming that a temple exists beneath the present structure.

"The Adinath Mandir sleeps under this Adina Masjid... That history is unknown to many." Close on the heels of the BJP leader's claims, activist Sourish Mukherjee, a spokesperson of the West Bengal unit of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) asserted that there are structures and motifs inside the mosque that clearly indicate existence of a temple prior to the mosque.

According to historian Sukhomoy Mukhopadhyay, construction of the Adina Mosque was completed in 1374 by Sikandar Shah, king of Bengal Sultanate (1342-1538). Work started during the reign of Sikandar Shah's father Iliyas Shah, who was the first independent ruler of Bengal Sultanate. On completion, Adina (Friday in Persian) Masjid was the largest mosque across the entire Indian subcontinent. Some historians have also pointed out that in those days, Adina Masjid was as big as the Great Mosque of Damascus, Mukhopadhyay said.

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