How can 500 yr old mosques be illegal? What is the Places of Worship Act?
Nowadays the temple-mosque dispute is in the news in India. After the consecration of ram Lalla in ayodhya, now the matter of Gyanvapi of Kashi and Shahi Idgah mosque of mathura is in discussion. Here the Hindu side is claiming that the temple existed 500 years ago. Both the cases are already pending in the court. Treasurer of Shri ram Janmabhoomi Trust, Govind Dev Giri Maharaj has said that if the Muslim side hands over Gyanvapi and krishna Janmabhoomi to Hindus, then all the other sites will be forgotten. Here the question arises whether a 500 year old mosque can be illegal? Does the law today allow building a temple instead of a mosque? In this special story, understand in simple language what is the legal issue.
First know about the Places of Worship Act of 1991
The Hindu side claims that during his reign in the 17th century, Mughal ruler Aurangzeb had demolished thousands of temples across the country and built mosques there. But this claim pales in comparison to the 1991 Places of Worship Act, which states that all religious places in the country will remain the same as they were at the time of independence on august 15, 1947.
The Places of Worship Act says that whatever religious places existed on august 15, 1947, they should continue in the same form. That means a mosque cannot be converted into a temple or a temple can be converted into a mosque. If a person tries to change a religious place, he can be sentenced to a jail term of one to three years. In 1991, the congress government of the then prime minister PV narasimha Rao had enacted the Places of Worship Act. The ram mandir movement was at its peak at that time. Therefore, a law was brought to prevent disputes and fights at religious places. However, the Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir dispute of ayodhya was in the court at that time, hence it was kept out of this law. This law applies to all religious places including Gyanvapi and Shahi Idgah mosque of Mathura.