On Friday, the Supreme Court made a decision about a Muslim festival called Urs in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district. They said that the festival could not happen at a spot where a dargah (a shrine for Sufi saints) had been torn down. The court agreed that the dargah was on government land and was destroyed as part of a larger effort by the state to remove illegal constructions, which also included Hindu temples.
A group called Samast Patni Muslim Jamat applied to the court, saying that even though the dargah was gone, the land had the graves of their ancestors, and they wanted to perform rituals for them. However, the judges, led by Justice Bhushan R. Gavai, decided to dismiss their request. They noted that the Gujarat government said there was no bias against any religion and that the land was empty now.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that since the dargah no longer exists, there was no reason for anyone to perform rituals there. He also mentioned that a similar request from the Hindu community for doing rituals on the same land was also denied.
The Urs was supposed to happen from February 1-3, but senior lawyer IH Syed argued for the petitioners, stating that the dargah was important to local people and had historical significance. He suggested that if there were concerns about safety, maybe just 20 people could go onto the land to pray and burn incense.
The bench reminded him that there is no building left now, and all issues will be discussed in the larger case that is still open. Mehta explained that documents show this land had been given to the Somnath Trust back in 1951, and the demolished buildings included many that belonged to the Hindu community, too.
This case is part of a larger discussion about unlawful demolitions, and the Supreme Court had already set rules to prevent unnecessary demolitions without proper notice and a chance for people to respond.
Leave a Reply