'Grave threat': Indian court rules historic Bhojshala mosque site a temple

• Two-decade worship arrangement ended.
• Muslim side plans Supreme Court challenge.
• Critics warn of a grave threat.

Muslims will no longer be able to offer Friday prayer at a disputed mosque-temple complex in India's Madhya Pradesh after a court declared the site a Hindu temple and authorities allowed daily Hindu worship there.

An Indian court ruling has ended a two-decade worship arrangement at the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque complex, with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) allowing daily Hindu prayers after the site was declared a temple.

The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court ruled that the complex in Dhar district was a temple dedicated to goddess Vagdevi, also known as Saraswati, Indian media reported.

Following the ruling, the ASI issued a May 16 order allowing Hindu devotees unrestricted daily worship rights at the site. The order superseded previous directives, including a 2003 arrangement under which Hindus were allowed to worship on Tuesdays and Muslims were allowed to offer Friday prayer.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who represented the Hindu petitioners, said Hindus could now visit and worship at the complex "without any restriction".

The ASI said the site would remain a protected monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, while worship timings would be determined by the superintending archaeologist in consultation with the district administration.

The court relied on a 2024 ASI report which said the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque complex was constructed using remnants of earlier temples, with the mosque built centuries later, according to Indian media.

The court also said the Muslim side could approach the state government for land at an alternative site in Dhar district to build a mosque. Dhar city Qazi Waqar Sadiq indicated that the Muslim petitioners would approach the Supreme Court, adding that the Muslim community had no intention of accepting alternative land.

The protected monument has long been contested, with Hindu groups claiming it is a temple dedicated to Saraswati and Muslims maintaining that it is the Kamal Maula mosque.

According to Al Jazeera, the ruling has placed the mosque out of bounds for Muslims in Dhar, where it had been used for prayer for decades.

The decision has drawn criticism from Muslim-side lawyers, historians and politicians, who argue that it threatens protections for Muslim places of worship in India. Lawyer Ashhar Warsi, who argued from the Muslim side, called the verdict "an erroneous judgement" and "a clear violation of the established rule of law".

Asaduddin Owaisi, a five-time member of parliament, told Al Jazeera that the ruling sent a message of "grave threat" to Muslim places of worship in India. He also said the Babri judgement had "opened the floodgates" for similar claims.

Al Jazeera also quoted historian Audrey Truschke as saying the current trend of targeting mosques in India was part of the "entrenched Islamophobia of Hindu nationalism".

The dispute comes amid a wider Hindutva push targeting medieval mosques and Islamic-era monuments in India, with campaigners claiming that they were built over Hindu temples. Such claims have gained momentum since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.