India: 200-Year-Old Mosque Faces Threat of Conversion to Temple

Efforts are reportedly underway in India to convert a 200-year-old mosque into a Hindu temple. A claim has been filed asserting that the mosque was built on land previously occupied by a temple.

A petition regarding the historic Aligarh Jama Masjid, located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, has been submitted to a local court. The claim alleges that the mosque was constructed on a site that once housed Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu temples.

The case is set to be heard on February 15, as the court has accepted the petition for review. The mosque is situated in the Upper Kot area, where the majority of the population is Muslim.

This development follows a pattern of similar disputes in India, where historical mosques from the Mughal era have increasingly come under claims by Hindu groups. These actions have been criticized as attempts to rewrite history and undermine communal harmony.

The case has sparked concerns among the Muslim community in Aligarh, who view this as part of a broader trend of targeting their religious sites under the guise of historical claims.