Ajmer Sharif Dargah row: Hindu Sena's national president and petitioner Vishnu Gupta, received a death threat days after he moved to a court, that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah was built over a Shiva temple in Gajasthan's Ajmer. Gupta referred his claims to Har Bilas Sarda's book 'Ajmer-Historical and Descriptive' in the plea.
The caller called and threatened Gupta to kill him. "Your head will be chopped off. You have made a big mistake by filing a case over Ajmer Dargah," the caller reportedly said.
Gupta filed a complaint at the Barakhamba police station, in New Delhi. He, after filing the complaint, said he is not going to be scared of such threats. "We are working under the law and it is our right to go to court. We will get our temples back through the court," he added.
Who is Vishnu Gupta?
Forty-year-old Vishnu Gupta, originally from Etah in UP, came to Delhi at a young age. Influenced by Hindu nationalism, he joined the youth wing of the Shiv Sena. In 2008, Gupta became a member of the Bajrang Dal. He founded the Hindu Sena in 2011 along with some others. He now claims that the organisation has lakhs of members in all parts of India.
Temple claim in petition triggers fierce debate
Earlier, the plea which claims that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah was built over a Shiva temple has sparked a fierce debate among the political and Muslim leaders in Rajasthan.
The petition has been admitted by a court in Ajmer, which issued notices to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the Ajmer Dargah Committee and the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs on the matter.
Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar on Friday said Mughal emperors such as Babar and Aurangzeb demolished most of the temples during their rule and built mosques.
"If the court orders excavation and if remains are found after the excavation, then a decision (based on teh remains) will come," Dilawar told reporters in Kota.
Congress targets government
Congress MLA Rafeek Khan said this was a blow to the constitutional right of freedom of religion and equality. "The shrine was built in 12th century and it is being challenged in 2024. This is an attempt to disturb communal harmony and is against the brotherhood between communities," he said.
Accusing the Narendra Modi government of sowing division, Khan said, "Instead of looking forward to giving a bright future to the youths and the coming generation, the government is pushing them backward and misleading them because they have nothing to present as its achievement." Syed Sarwar Chishti, Secretary of Anjuman Syed Zadgan -- the body of Khadims in Ajmer Dargah --questioned the claims of the petitioner Vishnu Gupta who has referred to Har Bilas Sarda's book 'Ajmer-Historical and Descriptive' in the plea.
Chisti said in the petition, Gupta has mentioned that a Brahmin couple used to worship in the Mahadev temple where the dargah was built but no other books on the history of the shrine make such claims.
Ajmer Dargah Deewan Zainul Abedin Khan, the spiritual head of the shrine, referring to some books said that the grave of the Sufi saint was on 'kaccha' land and no 'pucca' construction was there for 150 years.
(Report by Rajkumar Verma, Ajmer)
