New Delhi: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) aid that the Qutub Minar complex is not a place of worship and made it clear that the existing status of the monument cannot be altered. The national agency said this while opposing a plea before a Delhi court seeking restoration of Hindu and Jain deities inside the Qutub Minar.
‘Fundamental right cannot be availed in violation of any status of the land. The basic principle of protection/conservation is not to allow starting of any new practice in a monument declared and notified as a protected one under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958. Revival of worship is not allowed wherever it is not practised at the time of protection of a monument’, said the affidavit submitted by ASI. ASI said that the architectural materials and images of Hindu and Jain deities were re-used in the construction of the Qutub complex.
The plea was filed on behalf of deities Lord Vishnu and Lord Rishabh Dev through advocates Hari Shankar Jain and Ranjana Agnihotri. They claimed that the site was a complex of 27 Hindu and jain temples and it was destroyed in 12th century by Qutub-ud-din-Aibak. They demanded restoration of deities within the complex and the right to do ‘puja’ and ‘darshan’. Additional Sessions Judge Nikhil Chopra, after hearing arguments in the matter, reserved the court’s order for June 9.
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