After the Supreme Court refused to allow Ganesha Chaturthi celebrations at the Chamarajapet Idgah Maidan in Bengaluru, Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka said on Tuesday that the Idgah is actually a “public property” and the legal fight over its ownership will continue in the courts.
His rebuttal comes after the Top Court order on Tuesday to maintain the status quo at the ground, after hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka HC’s orders permitting the ground to be used for the festival.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal had told the court that no religious function had been performed by any other community at the Idgah Maidan for the last 200 years. Sibal said Idgah is Waqf’s property and there is an attempt to change the character of Maidan.
The Waqf board claims that they have been in uninterrupted possession of the land since 1871.
Ashoka said, “The government will abide by the court’s orders, but we will continue to challenge them legally. People of Chamarajpet and Bengaluru were eager to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi on the ground, but the Supreme Court has ordered status quo. We will fight legally in the courts, in the days to come,” he said.
Currently, the ground, located in Chamrajpet is under the control of the state Revenue Department.
Right-wing groups, under a banner called the Chamarajpet Okoota Samiti, had demanded that they should be allowed to celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi at the Idgah Maidan which was traditionally used by Muslims to offer Eid prayers.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee asked the petitioners to approach the Karnataka HC for the resolution of the dispute as to who is the owner of the land. Karnataka Waqf Board had filed an appeal in the Top Court challenging the order of the High Court.
On August 26, a division bench of the Karnataka High Court permitted the state government to consider and pass appropriate orders on the applications received by the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru (Urban) seeking the use of Chamarajapet Idgah Maidan.
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Rabia Shireen is a Staff Reporter at The Cognate.
