Budaun: Following a petition filed in an Uttar Pradesh court challenging the Shamsi Shahi mosque in Budaun district, the Muslim side on Tuesday termed the case "fake" and asserted that the Hindu side has no claim over the mosque. Speaking to ANI, Asrar Ahmed Siddiqui, representing the Muslim side said, "The case that has been filed is fake. It has been done to disturb the peace. They (the Hindu side) have no rights over this mosque."
A court in Uttar Pradesh has accepted the petition challenging the maintainability of the Shamsi Shahi mosque in Budaun district. However, advocate Vivek Render, representing the Hindu side, claimed that they have evidence proving the mosque is actually a Hindu temple.
"We have all the evidence that the property in dispute is a Hindu temple. We only seek uninterrupted worship at the site. We have land papers that do not identify the property as Jama Masjid. The ASI's advocate has already presented their arguments in court," he said.
The court is scheduled to hear the matter concerning the Shamsi Shahi mosque on December 10. This legal dispute follows violence that erupted on November 24 in Sambhal district during an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) examination of a Mughal-era mosque. The clashes resulted in the deaths of four individuals and left several others, including police officials and locals, injured.
The ASI survey was initiated after a petition was filed in a local court, alleging that the mosque's site was originally a Harihar temple. On November 27, the Divisional Commissioner of Moradabad Division, Aunjaneya Kumar Singh, confirmed that 27 individuals had been arrested in connection with the Sambhal violence.
