Supreme Court Hears Muslim Side's Plea on Bhojshala Namaz Site Dispute

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the Muslim side's plea on July 29 after it alleged that the Madhya Pradesh government had failed to provide an adjacent or nearby site for offering Friday namaz near the disputed Bhojshala complex in Dhar. It said that the allocated site was too far from the disputed site. During the hearing, counsel appearing for the Muslim side told the court that the alternate prayer site was not being allocated in accordance with its earlier directions. The authorities are "allocating a site adjacent or near the place. Two Fridays prayers already missed. The (allocated) site is 1.3 km away", PTI reported quoting senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi saying. Responding to this, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said that it was "900m away". "We don't have helicopters... by road it is 1.3 km. There is an attempt to always not follow orders of this court," Ahmadi said. The submission comes days after the Supreme Court directed the state government to identify a separate open space adjacent to the disputed Bhojshala complex where Muslims could offer Friday prayers between 1pm and 3pm until the case is finally decided. The interim arrangement was ordered on July 14 while the court was hearing appeals against the Madhya Pradesh high court's ruling that declared the Bhojshala complex a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati. The Bhojshala dispute centres on a protected monument in Dhar claimed by Hindus as a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati and by Muslims as the Kamal Maula Mosque.