The Places of Worship Act states that the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947, must be maintained.
NEW DELHI — All India Majlis-e-Ittehad ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi, on Wednesday, November 27, stated that the Places of Worship Act 1991 was introduced to prevent incidents similar to the Babri Masjid demolition. However, he added that the Ayodhya judgment and the proceedings in the Gyanvapi case have emboldened Hindutva outfits to target any and every mosque they can.
The Hyderabad MP termed such incidents as unfortunate, reported Siasat Daily.
Referring to former Chief Justice of India (CJI), DY Chandrachud’s interpretation of the Places of Worship Act, he said, “The Supreme Court opened a can of worms with former CJ Chandrachud’s additional reading of the Places of Worship Act 1991. The law bars any conversion of the religious character of a structure from its status as it was on Independence Day.”
What is the Places of Worship Act 1991?
The Places of Worship Act mandates that the religious character of any place of worship must remain as it existed on August 15, 1947.
The long title of the Act describes it as “An Act to prohibit the conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August 1947 and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”
Section 3 of the Act prohibits the conversion, in whole or part, of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination, or even a different sect within the same denomination.
The law, which was part of the Congress party’s 1991 election manifesto, was intended to resolve controversies arising from the alleged historical “conversion” of places of worship. While introducing the Bill in Parliament, then Home Minister S B Chavan stated that “the enactment of this Bill will go a long way in helping restore communal amity and goodwill.”
Although the Act was introduced in the context of the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, this issue was specifically excluded from its purview, as the dispute was already sub judice when the law was passed.