Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, made an emotional appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “talk to Muslims of the country” amid rising communal tensions over mosque surveys in various parts of India, News18 reported. During Friday prayers, he also urged Muslim youth to remain patient.
“You (PM Modi) should do justice to the chair you are sitting on. Win the hearts of Muslims. Stop the miscreants who are trying to create tensions and affecting the atmosphere of the country,” Bukhari said.
“We are standing in a situation worse than the one we were in 1947. No one knows which way the country will go in the future,” a teary-eyed Bukhari said at Jama Masjid
He called on the prime minister to take immediate action, suggesting that three Hindus and three Muslims be invited for discussions to address the prevailing tensions.
Bukhari’s appeal followed violent clashes on November 24 during a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district.
Mosque surveys in Sambhal, Ajmer
Tensions have been high in Sambhal following a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid on November 19, prompted by a petition claiming that the site previously housed a Harihar temple. On November 24, during the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) examination of the Mughal-era mosque, a stone-pelting incident occurred, resulting in the deaths of four people and injuries to several others, including officials and locals.
Multiple petitions have also been filed in courts nationwide regarding the surveys of mosques.
Bukhari said, “ASI has told us that we have no intention of surveying Delhi Jama Masjid, but the government should seriously think about the survey being done in Sambhal-Ajmer and other places. All these things are not good for the country. I only say that moments committed mistakes, centuries got punished… how long will the country run like this. How long will Hindu Muslim, temple mosque continue.”
A petition has also been filed in a Rajasthan court that has claimed that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah was constructed over a Shiva temple. The court in Ajmer admitted the petition and, on November 27, issued notices to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the Ajmer Dargah Committee, and the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs. The petition, filed by Vishnu Gupta, the national president of Hindu Sena, alleges that the dargah was originally a Shiva temple.
