India: Bharatiya Janata Party Making Trouble in Mathura over Mosque - 'Mathura's temple & Idgah row' Editorial, The Telegraph (Oct 5, 2020)

The Telegraph Side by side: Mathura's temple & Idgah row Apparently the mosque stands on the exact spot where a Hindu deity was born. The Editorial Board | | Published 05.10.20, 04:34 AM The project was being drummed up on the lines of a historic model. A group calling itself “friends of Sri Krishna Virajman” had petitioned a Mathura civil court for possession of the 13.37 acres of land on which the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi temple of Mathura and the Shahi Idgah mosque have been standing side by side for years. Apparently the mosque stands on the exact spot where the Hindu deity was born. In other words, the mosque must go. The court dismissed the petition, because the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 would not allow this change. While the lawful conclusion to another divisive attempt is to be lauded in these torn times, one aspect of the episode that emerged even before the court’s dismissal must also be welcomed. The trust that runs the Mathura temple objected forcefully to the petition to have the mosque removed. It was clear to the trust that certain ‘unscrupulous’ people were trying to create a controversy ‘out of nothing’. Calling it a ‘ploy’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the trust felt that the party at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh expected to gain leverage through this new temple-mosque affair in the 2022 elections. [ . . . ] https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/side-by-side-mathuras-temple-idgah-row/cid/1793908