Hindutva outfits recently submitted a memorandum to the official, requesting him to open the site for offering prayers on Nagpanchmi
Team Clarion
VIDISHA – A controversy has erupted over the transfer of Vidisha district collector Buddhesh Kumar Vaidya after he reportedly refused to open the 11th-century Bijamandal mosque to allow Hindus to offer pooja on Nagpanchmi, which will be celebrated on Friday.
Hindutva outfits recently submitted a memorandum to Vaidya, requesting him to open the site in Vidisha city for offering prayers on the occasion of the Hindu festival.
The collector forwarded the plea to the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) which on August 2 cited a gazette notification of 1951 stating that Bijamandal was not a temple but a mosque.
Hindutva groups protested by reciting Hanuman Chalisa and raising slogans against the local administration and the collector. They also appealed to the state Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to dismiss Vaidya from service. However, Vaidya was suddenly transferred along with other IAS officers on Saturday.
On Tuesday, All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the Madhya Pradesh government for transferring the collector simply for following the law of the land.
In a post on X, Owaisi said, “In Madhya Pradesh, Sangh outfits demanded that they should be allowed to pray in a mosque. The District Collector noted that the structure was a mosque in the ASI gazette & refused permission. The collector was transferred because he followed the law.
“This is the danger of the Waqf Amendment Bill. The government wants to give expansive powers to the collector. If someone says that a masjid is not a masjid, the collector must follow the mob’s demands or s/he’ll be transferred. No amount of evidence will be sufficient,” the Hyderabad MP further said.
Local Muslim leaders reiterated the historical significance of the Bijamandal mosque.
Chaudhary Parvez Ahmed, acting president of the Muslim Society in Vidisha, said: “The Muslim community has been offering namaz in the Bijamandal Idgah Mosque for a long time. An agreement was reached in 1965 and we stand firm on that. The idgah mosque was built by the government, and the land was purchased from the property handed over to us.”
Another local resident, Abid Siddiq, said, “An agreement was made, and if we return the structure, we will hand it over only to the Muslims.”
He emphasised the city’s history of communal brotherhood and expressed gratitude to the administration for maintaining harmony, while also calling for the status quo to be maintained.
In response to the ASI’s stance, the Vijay Mandir Mukti Seva Samiti was formed in Vidisha under the leadership of BJP MLA Mukesh Tandon. The committee demanded a second survey of the site, and Tandon argued that the structure’s history and the community’s sentiments should be given due consideration.
