PFI Submits Appeal Seeking Security, CCTV Installation At Srirangapatna’s Jamia Masjid In Wake Of ‘Sankeerthana Yatra’, Provocative Posters

In the background of the Hindu Jagarane Vedike’s upcoming ‘Sankeerthana Yatra’ event in Mandya, which is set to occur from December 8 to December 16, the Popular Front of India (PFI) has expressed concern about the gathering’s procession route that passes through the Jamia Masjid in Srirangapatna.

The organization has expressed apprehension concerning provocative posters which are being circulated on social media sites, making claims about Hanuman Temple having existed in the place of the Jamiya Masjid.

The Popular Front Mandya district committee and Popular Front Mysore District Committee submitted appeals to the District Superintendent and MLA Tanveer Sait, respectively, saying “the Sangh Parivar, which has consistently engaged in creating controversies around the Jamia Masjid in Srirangapatna, is plotting to engineer communal riots, in order to demolish the respective Masjid.”

“The distorted portrait of the Masjid should be withheld from being circulated and strong actions must be taken against the evil forces orchestrating the conspiracy. The hate speech propagated by Sangh Parivar leaders must be banned immediately. The Historic Masjid at Srirangapatna must be provided with police security and equipped with CCTV cameras in its entirety”, the appeal entails.

In the letters addressed to Deputy Commissioner, District Magistrate and Inspector General Of Police, PFI Mandya and PFI Mysuru has asked the authorities to take all necessary action to prevent the circulation of the morphed images of the Jamia Masjid and to register FIR against the organisations and individuals who are circulating it.

Srirangapatna houses several historic monuments and the archaeological department has installed CCTV in the vicinity of these sites. However, Jamia Masjid also known as Masjid-i-Ala does not have any CCTV nor is the archaeological department permitting to install them, a source alleged. In every other site, they have installed these cameras barring the masjid, the source reiterated.

The Hindu Jagaran Vedike had organized the Sankeerthana Yatra in 2019. During the 8-day program, Hanuman Maala is donned by devotees who call themselves Maaladharis. The concluding part of this program occurs at Srirangapatna. On the 8^th day, they take a procession to a temple in Srirangapatna which has to go via the Jamia Masjid route. 

Observers say that since the police deployment during the 2019 event had been efficient, they were able to control the passionate crowd that tried to break past the barricade. The yatra which was conducted during the following year in 2020 was organized in a low-key manner owing to Covid.

However, during the program which was organized on January 5, 2021, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Mandya District Vice-President, former Additional SP Balaramegowda announced that the Moodalabagila Anjaneyaswamy temple in the town would be reconstructed within December 2021.

“So from Dec. 8 to Dec. 16 they have organized a program, and on Dec. 16 it will conclude in Srirangapatna. In the past, the concluding programs used to occur with participation from four villages but this time, eight villages will be included in the program. Concerning this, the SP of all the districts, officers have been informed”, the source revealed.