The reclamation of the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple was a civilization battle that remained mired in legal wrangle for over a century before various courts of the country. Though the battle for the Ram Mandir culminated in victory for Hindus, one of the most popular slogans of the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement (RJB) which ends with “Kashi Mathura baaki hai,” is a subtle reminder for the Hindus that though the battle has been won, the struggle is not over yet.    

While much has been spoken about the heroic and long-drawn struggle of Hindus to take back what rightfully belonged to them, an even longer struggle of Hindus with respect to the possession of Krishna Janmabhoomi over the last thousand years has taken a backseat.

We know that Mathura is the birthplace of Bhagwan Shri Krishna. As per the Puranas, Krishna was born at the midnight of Rohini Nakshatra conjoined with Ashtami Tithi in the dark fortnight of Shravana Masa to Devaki and Vasudeva, who were held in the prison of King Kamsa at Mathura. Based on various studies, historians like Dr. Vasudev Sharan Agarwal and Shri Krishna Dutta Vajpayee have acknowledged that the site of the old Katra Keshavdev Temple (also popularly known as Keshav Rai) in Mathura is the true birthplace of Krishna. Unfortunately, such an important and sacred Hindu pilgrimage site is now occupied by Muslims who claim its ownership based on a mosque, namely the Shahi Idgah, built on this site after destroying the Katra Keshav Dev temple on the orders of the Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb.

Krishna Janmabhoomi—A Story Of Construction And Destruction

In loving memory of Krishna’s birth, a grand temple was built at the Janmabhoomi (birthplace). Just like the famous Somnath Temple, the temple at Krishna Janmabhoomi was also attacked many times by the invaders. But sadly, unlike Somnath, where Mahadev has reclaimed his abode, the dispute here remains unresolved. As a result, Bhagwan Shri Krishna is yet to reclaim his birthplace. Here is an account of the number of temples constructed at Shri Krishna Janmasthan and their devastation at the hands of invaders:

• As per legend, the first temple at this site¹ was built by Lord Krishna’s great-grandson, Vajranaba.
• The temple was then rebuilt and expanded by Emperor Chandragupta Vikramaditya in the Gupta Era.² The temple constructed by Vikramaditya was nothing less than an architectural marvel. During this time, the great emperor also established Mathura as the paramount center for culture and art. This magnificent temple was demolished in 1071 AD by Mahmud Ghaznavi.³
• The third major temple was built by an individual named Jajja during the reign of King Vijayapala Dev in 1150 AD.⁴ This temple was destroyed in the early 16th century by Sikandar Lodi (born Nizam Khan).⁵
• The fourth and final temple to stand at this spot was constructed by Raja Bir Singh Bundela during the reign of Jahangir. This temple was razed and the Shahi Idgah was constructed in its place by Aurangazeb in 1670. The Mughal emperor even changed the name of Mathura to Islamabad.⁶

The Destruction Of Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple By Aurangzeb:

After its destruction at the hands of Sikandar Lodi, the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple was rebuilt by Raja Bir Singh Bundela, the ruler of Orchha under the Mughal empire. As per Maasir-I-Alamgiri, which is an annal of the events that transpired during the reign of Aurangzeb, Bir Singh Bundela assassinated Shaikh Abul Fazl, the Grand Vizier of Akbar and the author of Akbarnama, at the behest of Jehangir as he opposed the latter’s claim to the throne as the successor of Akbar. In the process, Bundela earned the favor of Jehangir. After ascending to the throne of the Mughal empire, Jahangir asked Bundela to ask for a reward for his services, and Bundela promptly requested permission to build a grand temple for Keshav Dev at the site of Krishna Janmabhoomi. What more can stand as the testimony of the perseverance of Hindus to reclaim Krishna Janmabhoomi than the fact that a Hindu king, when given a choice, chose to seek permission to build the temple at the holy site over personal benefits? Despite being contemptuous of Hindu traditions, Jahangir granted permission to build a temple at Krishna Janmabhoomi as he regarded Bundela as an invaluable ally.⁷ 

Thus, a grand temple was erected by Bundela at this spot at the expense of Rs 33,00,000. However, this temple, which was popularly known as the Dehra of Keshav Rai, existed only for about half a century as Jahangir’s grandson, Aurangazeb, launched an attack on this temple as a part of his campaign to end ‘infidelity’. Aurangazeb’s army razed this temple to the ground in 1670 and buried all the murtis of this temple under the mosque of Begum Sahib in Agra so that they could be continually trodden upon by the ‘faithful’. The Mughal emperor then ordered the construction of a Shahi Idgah at the site of the temple and changed the name of Mathura to Islamabad in order to erase the Hindu identity of the town.⁸

Scindias’ Recapture Of Mathura:

The Scindia dynasty was founded by Ranoji Rao Scindia, the Maratha Sardar of Peshwa Bajirao I. The association of the Scindias with Gwalior and Ujjain commenced when the Mughals started to lose their prominence due to the rise of the Marathas. Mahadaji Scindia, the fifth and youngest son of Ranoji, played a prominent role in consolidating the position of the  Marathas in North India. In the latter half of the 18th century, the Marathas established their control over Mathura. However, in 1803, as the Maratha power withered, the land was passed on to the British after the second Anglo-Maratha war. They continued to treat Katra Keshavdeva as nazul (government) land, as declared earlier by the Marathas.⁹

British Auction And Civil Suits In Allahabad High Court:

During the British rule in 1815, the East India Company auctioned off the entire Krishna Janmabhoomi area (also known as Katra Keshav Dev). It was acquired by Raja Patnimal of Banaras.¹⁰ He acquired the land with the intention of constructing a temple for Bhagwan Shri Krishna at his janmabhoomi, but he was unsuccessful in doing so. After Raja Patnimal’s death, his descendants inherited the Janmabhoomi land. In 1932, the Muslims of Mathura made an appeal against the owner of the Idgah land, Rai Kishan Das, a descendant of Raja Patnimal.

In 1932, a prosecution was filed by Rai Kishan Das, a descendant of Raja Patnimal, against Abdulla Khan & others, for possession of pieces of stones that had been removed by the defendants, and for possession of the land on which they had put up a mill for grinding. The judge upheld the plea for the recovery of Rai Kishan Das, but allowed the Muslims right of way over the land to access the Idgah. The judge said that they could use the kacchi kursi (lower terrace/plinth) “not as a matter of right but as a matter of convenience.” The judge also noted that the Muslim claim was based on an “interpolated” Khasra column which mentioned the Krishna Chabutra as ‘khander tehkana mutalliq masjid’.¹¹

An appeal against the judgement was filed in 1932 by M. Abdullah Khan and others. In the ruling dated 02 December 1935, while the claim of Muslims was quashed by the Allahabad High Court, the earlier ruling was modified, granting the usage of the land known as kachchi kursi and two flights of steps from kachchi kursi to the Idgah.¹² Thus, even until 1935, the ownership of Krishna Janmabhoomi was strongly in the hands of Hindus.

Acquisition By Mahamana:

When Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya came to Mathura in 1940, he was very disappointed to see the plight of Shri Krishna’s birthplace. He wrote a letter to industrialist Jugal Kishore Birla, seeking his help for the re-establishment of the temple at Sri Krishna’s birthplace. Respecting Mahamana’s wish, Rai Kishan Das, who, on 08 Februrary 1944, transferred the entire Katra Keshav Dev together with all rights and interests in favour of Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Goswami Ganesh Dutt, and Dr. Bhikhanlal Attrey.¹³ Unfortunately, Mahamana died before he could build the temple at Krishna Janmabhoomi. Therefore, as per Malviya ji’s last wish, Birla, who was the real purchaser of the land, established a trust for Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi on 21 February 1951, and the land was vested in the trust.¹⁴ Leading personality, Sri Jaidayal Dalmia, and many other prominent Hindus were appointed trustees of this body. Later, on 01 May 1958, the Sri Krishna Janamsthan Sewa Sangh was formed to take up the construction of the temple and maintain the Janmasthan.¹⁵

Muslim Attempt To Claim The Land And The ‘1968 Agreement’:

Enraged by these developments in Krishna Janmabhoomi, the Muslims once again sought ownership of Idgah. In 1959, a case was filed against the Sri Krishna Janmabhumi Trust based on a sale deed executed by Trust Masjid Idgah (a committee of Muslims for the management of Shahi Idgah). The suit was dismissed as the sale deed was illegal.¹⁶ 

In his order of 28 August 1961, S.K.P. Joshi, Munsif Mathura, observed that the trustees of the Idgah indulged in attempts to illicitly transfer the land of Katra Keshavdeva to Idgah. The Munsif noted that the Idgah party was even denying the very name of Katra Keshavdeva and was calling it or part of it as ‘Katra Idgah’ or ‘Katra Shahi’.¹⁷ The court’s ruling dated 14th May 1964 described the act of transferring the land as “open defiance”.¹⁸

Another case against the judgement of S.K.P. Joshi was filed by Shaukat Ali and 16 others. In this suit, the earlier judgement was upheld and the said plea was dismissed by Additional Civil Judge H.C. Rastogi on 06 August 1965.¹⁹ 

Meanwhile, the political climate was changing on the horizon. In the 1967 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the state voted for a hung assembly, and ultimately, a non-Congress government was formed. Chaudhary Charan Singh became the Chief Minister of the state by breaking away from Congress and forming the government with the support of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, which was the second-largest party in the assembly after Congress. However, given the conflicting views and ideologies of the alliance partners, Charan Singh’s first tenure as CM could, however, last only till 25 February 1968.

Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, thus implemented President’s Rule in the state. It was during the President’s Rule that, under the ‘supervision’ of local government officials, a compromise agreement was entered into by Sri Krishna Janamsthan Seva Sangha and Shahi Masjid Idgah Trust.²⁰ As per this, management of the Idgah was left to the Idgah Trust, and the Idgah Trust gave up its claim to the rest of the land in Katra Keshav Dev except the Idgah and certain parts of the land allocated to it.²¹ The compromise was submitted before the court, which pronounced a decree accepting the same.

An Invalid Compromise:

There are multiple problems with the compromise agreement. The trust was formed with the object of building a grand temple on the site and, as such, any agreement which compromises the said objective cannot be made—since it would be a breach of trust by the trustees. But even more important is the fact that the compromise was signed by Sri Krishna Janamsthan Seva Sangha, which was not even the owner of the property and was created for the sole purpose of constructing the temple. The ownership of the property vests with the Sri Krishna Janmabhumi Trust. Hence, the agreement is invalid ab-initio and the decree issued by the court based on the said compromise has to be set aside.

In May 1993, a case was filed before the District Judge, Mathura, on behalf of Lord Sri Krishna by Manohar Lal Verma and Ram Dev verses against some members of the Sri Krishna Janmasthan Sewa Sangh, accusing its trustees of breach of trust and all members of the society as well as the society of being legally unfit due to breach of trust.²² While the case was rejected on 06 May 1994 on grounds of maintainability (trustees of the Sewa Sangh not been impleaded as defendants), the District Judge noted that the Shree Krishna Janmasthan Sewa Sangh was not the trustee of the Shree Krishna Janmabhumi Trust and could not represent it.²³ Later, the High Court, in the First Appeal of 1996, too, held the same, but the case again was dismissed on grounds of maintainability on 23 September 1997.²⁴

In September 2020, a petition on behalf of Shree Krishna Virajman was filed by lawyers, Hari Shankar Jain and Vishnu Shankar Jain. Chhaya Sharma, Additional Districrt Judge, denied the suit, but this time citing the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991.²⁵ On 12 October 2020, another appeal was made to the Mathura district court, and Judge Sadhna Rani Thakur admitted the case for hearing.²⁶

On 19 May 2022, a Mathura court held that the said suit, filed by Bhagwan Shrikrishna Virajman, Asthan Shrikrishna Janam Bhoomi through Next Friend Ranjana Agnihotri, seeking the removal of the Shahi Idgah and cancellation of the allegedly “fradulent” compromise decree of 1974, which was based on the allegedly illicit agreement between the Shree Krishna Janmsthan Sewa Sangh and Trust Masjid Idgah. Notably, the court also observed that the provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991 will have no application in this dispute. 

At the first hearing after the suit was restored, the Mathura District Court, on 26 May 2022, directed the plaintiffs in the Sri Krishna Janambhumi-Shahi Idgah Mosque dispute case to provide a copy of their plaint to the side of the defendants, including the U.P. Sunni Central Waqf Board and Committee of Management, Trust Alleged Shahi Masjid Idgah.

Places Of Worship Act, 1991: 

This legislation was enacted by the Congress government in 1991, denying the right of Hindus to reclaim their places of worship, which were occupied by aggressors in the past. The legislation states that the religious character of any place of worship as on 15th August 1947, shall remain as such—making it a criminal offense to alter the same. The Sri Ram Janmabhoomi dispute was given an exemption from this rule.

Solution:

The Places of Worship Act—which creates an unacceptable bottleneck in the path to justice for Hindus of the nation—has to be repealed or more exemptions ought to be given under the act to enable reclamation of the major holy sites of Hindus. Given that the compromise agreement is invalid, the decree issued by the court has to be set aside. 

The land belongs to the Sri Krishna Janambhumi Trust. The Muslims lay claim to the Idgah, which stands on Hindu land. Unlike the Hindu religion, which deifies land, rivers, trees, and even nature in general, Islam has no such attachment to any particular place, for they cannot deify any piece of land under the tenets of their religion. That the ownership of the land belongs to Hindus has been established by several courts already. And as the ownership dispute is already settled in this case, there is no reason for any lengthy court battle again. All it requires is the will of the devotees and the government of the day to do justice to Hindus.

 

References

 

1. Richard Saloman, Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 87-88.
2. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 123.
3. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 121-123.
4. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 123.
5. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 125.
6. Sir Jadunath Sarkar, Maasir-i-Alamgiri, (Calcutta: Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1947), 60.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 144.
10. Ibid.
11. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 145-146.
12. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 185.
13. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 146.
14. Ibid.
15. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 191.
16. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 186.
17. Ibid.
18. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 187.
19. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 188.
20. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 192.
21. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 192-93.
22. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 196.
23. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 198.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Meenakshi Jain, Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura, (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2021), 199.