Bhojshala row: Basant Panchami prayers, Friday namaz held peacefully in MP's Dhar

Dhar (Madhya Pradesh), Jan 23 (IANS) The celebration of the Basant Panchami festival by Hindus and Friday namaz by Muslims at the disputed Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district concluded peacefully, an official said on Friday. 

Dhar District Collector Priyank Mishra said people from both communities offered their prayers at the site peacefully amid high security, without any disruption of law and order in the area. He, however, appealed to people to maintain peace and public order to avoid any untoward incident.

“As per the order of the Supreme Court, the programme of the Hindu community on Basant Panchami and the Muslim community’s Friday namaz at the designated place was conducted peacefully. People are appealed to maintain peace and law and order,” the district Collector said in a statement.

Following the Supreme Court’s direction, people from the Hindu community offered prayers to Bagichi Devi (Goddess Saraswati) at the Bhojshala temple premises, while Muslims also performed Friday namaz during the permitted window.

The Basant Panchami prayers involved traditional Saraswati Puja rituals. A large number of devotees visited the site, necessitating significant police deployment.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court permitted both Hindus and Muslims to offer prayers at the disputed premises and instructed the Dhar district administration to comply with the direction. The apex court allowed Hindu prayers from sunrise to sunset, while Muslims were allowed to offer Friday namaz from 1 pm to 3 pm on the day.

The dispute at the site is that Hindus consider Bhojshala -- an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected 11th-century monument -- to be a temple dedicated to Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim community calls it the Kamal Maula mosque.

Under an arrangement made by the ASI on April 7, 2003, Hindus perform puja on the Bhojshala premises on Tuesdays and Muslims offer namaz in the complex on Fridays.

The Supreme Court’s intervention was needed as Basant Panchami fell on Friday and Muslims also visited the disputed site for Friday prayers on the same day.

Complying with the court’s direction, the Dhar district administration strengthened security, deploying over 8,000 police personnel and Rapid Action Force (RAF) units in and around the disputed site.