Court admits Krishna Janmabhoomi plea

Mathura: A local court in Mathura on Friday admitted a plea that seeks to remove a mosque adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi.

The court of district judge Sadhna Rani Thakur has fixed November 18 as the next date of hearing in the case. Earlier in October, a civil court in Mathura had dismissed a plea seeking order to remove the Shahi Idgah Mosque. The petitioner had alleged that it was built over Krishna Janmabhoomi.

Mathura is considered to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna.

The mosque in question was built in the 17th century. According to petitioners, it was built at the birthplace of Lord Krishna, within the 13-acre premises of the Katra Keshav Dev temple. Since the November 2019 Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case, the clamour has been growing to remove mosques that are adjacent to prominent temples in the country like the Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura and the Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi. A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had ruled that the disputed land in Ayodhya be given for construction of a temple, while Muslims would get an alternate plot elsewhere in the Uttar Pradesh town.