Administration involved in conspiracy to Islamize the fort using forged documents
Thane, February 18 (Corr.) – Some local Muslims claimed that the temple of Shri Durga Devi at Durgadi Fort, where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj built the first bastion of Hindu sovereignty, is a ‘Mailis-e-Mushwareen Masjid’. There was a demand to transfer the case to the Wakf Board. The Kalyan District Sessions Court rejected this demand. Shockingly, some administrative officials have been found to be hand in glove in Islamising the Durgadi Fort by forging entries in the government documents.
1. Sarfuddin Moinuddin Kurte, Mohammad Farid, Mohammad Choudhary, Suhail Farid, Monaf Dollare from Kalyan filed a petition in the Kalyan District Court demanding transfer of the case of Sri Durga Devi Temple at Durgadi Fort to the Wakf Board.
2. The next hearing in this regard will be held on April 3. Although the court rejected the demand of the petitioners, the government records about the fort are trying to identify the Durgadi fort as an Islamic structure. In this, the wall at the back side of the fort is being projected to be an Eidgah and prayers are being offered there on the day of Eid for many years. A few years ago, the road beside the fort was marked ‘Idgah Road’. The plaque has now been removed following complaints by local Hindus.
‘Idgah’ mentioned in the police record! – Surendra Bhalekar, President, Tripurari Poornima Utsav Durgadi Fort
On Eid, during Namaz at Durgadi Fort, I was served a notice by the police. In that notice, the wall behind the fort was referred to as ‘Eidgah’. It was not so before 2005; but this name had cropped up after that year. I have complained about this to the Collector time and again but to no avail.
How much longer will the wait for justice be?
In 1970, Thane District Collector had declared that the structure in the fort premises is a Temple. Then the Muslims petitioned the Kalyan District Court regarding this. On March 22, 1973, a question was raised in the Legislative Council about the temple of Shri Durga Devi on the fort. The then revenue minister Bhausaheb Vartak clearly stated that the structure on the fort was a ‘temple’. Currently, local Muslims are in the process of approaching the High Court to claim the temple as their structure. The case was stalled for years in the Kalyan District Court despite several historical proofs being presented that the structure on the Durgadi Fort was a temple. Now, if the case goes to the High Court, how many more years will elapse before justice is delivered?
Muslims have not been able to present any proof that the wall behind the fort is an Eidgah, although the administration allows for namaz biannually there. However, since the Muslims have claimed that the land is a Eidgah, the administration has been denying permission to the Navratri festivities. These festivities were started in the days of Balasaheb Thackeray.
