Tomb vs Temple Dispute Sparks Hindu-Muslim Face-Off; Barricades Broken

Fatehpur (The Uttam Hindu): Hindu and Muslim organizations came face to face on Monday over the claim on the religious place in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh. Since a week ago, Hindu organizations are saying that the tomb is a Shiv temple and they will perform religious rituals there. Fearing a dispute, the district administration had covered the disputed area with barricades, but today thousands of people from both sides reached there. The crowd broke the barricades put up by the administration. Administration officials are present on the spot with heavy force.

The police spokesperson said here today that Hindu organizations and Muslim organizations have made their own claims regarding the tomb and the ancient Shiva temple in Abu Nagar locality of the city. A week ago, Bharatiya Janata Party's district president Mukhlal Pal had called the tomb an ancient Shiva temple and talked about performing religious rituals. On his call, the administration had barricaded the tomb from a distance and deployed the force of a dozen police stations. Meanwhile, the crowd hoisted a religious flag at the disputed site, which was opposed by the other side. The administration has removed the flag, but Hindu and Muslim organizations are present side by side with sticks. On receiving the information, Prayagraj's Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant and IG Ajay Mishra have also reached the spot. PAC has been called in large numbers. No untoward incident has taken place so far. District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Superintendent of Police Anoop Kumar Singh is also present at the spot.

In fact, BJP district president Mukhlal Pal had reached the mausoleum on Monday morning and appealed to the people to perform Puja and Aarti. On this appeal, people from the Hindu side reached the barricade near the Dak Bungalow on Monday morning shouting slogans. People broke the barricade and entered the disputed site. Despite this, a crowd gathered there and the police is having a tough time controlling it.