Puja, namaz happen peacefully at disputed Bhojshala monument

DHAR (MADHYA PRADESH): Amid tension over performing worship at the disputed site Bhojshala in Dhar town of Madhya Pradesh, the puja by Hindus and namaz by Muslims went off peacefully on a day when Basant Panchmi fell on a Friday.

Due to the claim on the disputed 11th century structure here by both Hindus and Muslims, it has come to be known as 'mini-Ayodhya'.

"A group of 25-30 Muslims offered namaz on the terrace of the site peacefully after 12 PM," Indore division commissioner Sanjay Dube said. Hindus offered puja in the morning and in the evening, he said.

However, stone-pelting took place in Ganjikhane area of the town and police lobbed two teargas shells, eyewitnesses said, but police did not confirm the incident.

Opposing the decision of the Archaeological Survey Of India to allow both puja and namaz on Basant Panchmi today, Shankaracharya of Kashi Sumeru Peeth Swami Narendranand Saraswati and some Hindu Mahasabha leaders staged a protest for nearly three hours outside the Bhojshala.

"The ASI has no right to decide whether puja and namaz should be conducted or not. Its job is to conserve the site," the Shankaracharya said.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Arif Masood said in a release that the court had directed the government to allow namaz in Kamaal Moula mosque (as Muslims call it) and not on the terrace, which amounted to a contempt of court. He would file a contempt petition after consulting other members of the board, he said.