A Delhi court has rejected a civil suit seeking restoration of Hindu and Jain deities within the Qutub Minar complex and right to worship over there, saying that past wrongs cannot be the basis for disturbing the peace in present and future.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Jain deity Tirthankar Lord Rishabh Dev and Hindu deity Lord Vishnu, claimed that 27 temples were partly demolished by Qutubdin Aibak, a general in the Army of Mohamad Gauri, and Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque was raised inside the complex by reusing the material.
Rejecting the suit, Civil Judge Neha Sharma said, “India had a culturally rich history. It has been ruled over by numerous dynasties. During arguments, the counsel for the plaintiff has vehemently argued on the point of national shame. However, nobody has denied that wrongs were committed in the past, but such wrongs cannot be the basis for disturbing the peace of our present and future.”
The judge added, “Our country had a rich history and has seen challenging times. Nevertheless, history has to be accepted as a whole. Can the good be retained and bad be deleted from our history?”
The court also referred to the Ayodhya judgment delivered by the Supreme Court in November, 2019 and highlighted a portion of it in the order, which stated, “Cognizant as we are of our history and of the need for the nation to confront it, Independence was a watershed moment to heal the wounds of the past. Historical wrongs cannot be remedied by the people taking the law into their own hands.”
The suit, filed by advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, sought a mandatory injunction against the central government to create a trust, according to Trust Act 1882, and to hand over the management and administration of the temple complex situated within the area of Qutub Complex.
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