Representatives of the Muslim community on Friday (May 15, 2026) said they will approach the Supreme Court to challenge the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order declaring the disputed Bhojshala Temple and Kamal Maula Mosque site in Dhar as a Hindu temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati.
Members of the Hindu community celebrated the Supreme Court’s Indore Bench verdict, which granted them full rights to worship, even as tight security remained in place in Dhar and surrounding areas. The district administration has already imposed preventive measures according to § 163 BNSS.
Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, said the court recognized the Bhojshala complex as a center of learning apart from the Goddess Saraswati temple.
Ending the judgment as “historic”, Mr Jain said, “Most importantly, the court has given us the right to worship here and asked the government to supervise its proceedings. The court also questioned the ASI’s April 7, 2003 order allowing namaz there. Now only puja will be performed there.”
“The court accepted our basic demand and each of our arguments and declared that the nature of the structure is that of a Hindu temple,” he told reporters outside the Indore High Court building.
Following the long-awaited verdict, Dhar City Qazi Waqar Sadiq said the Muslim party would review the court’s decision and take it to the Supreme Court.
“We will review the High Court decision which was given against our argument. We respect the court but we will definitely challenge it in the Supreme Court. We will oppose it in the first hearing,” Sadiq said.
But Mr Sadiq appeared to reject the court’s recommendation that the Muslim party could approach the state government for a replacement land for the mosque, saying the idea “ended up in the Supreme Court” during the verdict in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri mosque dispute.
“The Muslim party was given land then, but the same approach should not be used repeatedly. This time another community should be asked to take land elsewhere. We insist on our claim,” he said.
“Our arguments have been presented in a good way by our lawyers (senior advocate) Salman Khurshid sahab and Shobha Menon,” he said.
Advocate Noor Mohammad Sheikh, also representing the Muslim party, said that following the Supreme Court’s order, namaz could no longer be offered at the venue until the Supreme Court intervened.
“There is no question of namaz yet because the Supreme Court has not granted rights to the Muslim party,” he said.
Arshad Mansuri, another advocate representing the Muslim side, said the court “only considered the facts of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)”.
“Our facts were not taken into account at all. We will not say that the court did not hear our side, but we are not at all satisfied with the decision. This decision is also constitutionally incorrect, because it was a civil matter decided within the framework of the constitution,” he said.
Meanwhile, more than 1,200 security personnel along with several companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF), Special Armed Forces (SAF) and Quick Reaction Force (QRF) have been deployed in Dhar town and adjoining areas, turning the area around the complex into a high security zone.
Indore (Rural) Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Manoj Kumar Singh told The Hindu that security measures had been put in place a day in advance, including deployment of vehicles and anti-riot equipment.
“Everything has been peaceful so far. We are also holding dialogues with representatives of both communities to maintain peace. More than 40 Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) officers and inspectors have been deployed at the spot while senior officers are monitoring the arrangements,” he said.
Mr. Singh added that the police dispersed some members of the Hindu community who were raising celebratory slogans.
The High Court’s verdict came after hearing five injunctions and three applications for intervention.
Muslim and Hindu communities have been engaged in long-running legal disputes over the disputed site since the mid-1990s, with tensions flaring on several occasions.
In 2003, the ASI issued an order allowing Hindus to worship at the complex on Tuesdays and Basant Panchami, while Muslims were allowed to pray on Fridays. However, communal tensions repeatedly surfaced, especially when Basant Panchani coincided with Friday prayers.
Published – 15 May 2026 21:01 IST
