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Officials say Asind shrine row
is over; Muslims differ

Soni Sinha in Jaipur

The administration at the small Rajasthan town of Asind, about 200 km from Jaipur, says they have settled a Hindu-Muslim dispute over a shrine, but some Muslims complain the agreement has been foisted upon them.

"The people are not happy. Their sentiments have been hurt," said Abdul Hai Shamim, former secretary of Jaipur's Jama Masjid mosque.

His comments were in sharp contrast to a statement of C P Vyas, the district administration chief of Bhilwara, who said the dispute was over following a peace committee meeting late on Monday.

Tension gripped Asind after some 300 Hindu nomads allegedly demolished a 16th-century mosque located within a temple premises late last month.

But a Hindu idol installed at the site was removed following requests from the local administration.

Vyas said the Waqf Board, which oversees Muslim religious affairs, would be consulted and would announce in a month its decision on reconstructing the mosque. The board's decision would be binding on both committees, he added.

Said Rafiq Ahmad, president of the local Sheikh community body: "The administration has decided that if there is a provision in the Koran to build the mosque elsewhere, then the Waqf Board shall decide on the matter and the land will be provided by the district administration."

He added: "There was no way out, the agreement had been forced upon us."

He alleged that the Muslim community's interests were not safe in Rajasthan and Muslims had agreed to a settlement because they feared for their lives.

The chief of the Waqf Board has repeatedly asserted that there was a mosque inside the temple premises and it needed to be reconstructed. But the Gurjars, an influential nomadic tribe involved in the razing, is bitterly opposed its reconstruction.

A delegation of the National Commission for Minorities from Delhi took part in Monday's peace committee meeting. The team visited the temple and the site of the erstwhile mosque and met the district chief. Two office bearers of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which is linked to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party, also participated in the peace meeting.

In Jaipur, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said: "I am confident the issue will be sorted out by the local citizens and the district administration. The locals have not appreciated any outside intervention in the matter. This is what was conveyed to me."

Indo-Asian News Service

ALSO SEE:
Inquiry ordered into tampering of mosque land records

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