An Indian court has granted permission to survey a centuries-old mosque to determine if it contains Hindu relics and symbols, Reuters reported on Thursday. The verdict comes as a boost to Hindu groups which claim it was built on a site of a destroyed Hindu temple.
The Shahi Eidgah mosque is located in Mathura city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and the site is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna, revered by India’s majority Hindu population.
On Thursday, the Allahabad high court permitted a survey of the 17th century mosque, where Muslims still pray, to determine if there are any relics or Hindu symbols inside the complex.
Last year, Hindu groups petitioned to keep Muslims from praying in the mosque, saying they suspected that Hindu relics inside could be removed.
Earlier this year, another court allowed a similar survey of the centuries old Gyanvyapi mosque in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency of Varanasi, to determine if it had been built atop a Hindu temple.
Members of hard-line Hindu groups linked to Modi’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are acting on the claim that Islamic invaders and rulers destroyed Hindu temples over several centuries.
About 200 million Muslims live in the Hindu-majority India which has seen nation-wide crackdown on Islamic identity and heritage for decades under nationalist governments.
