With the Shahi Idgah Mosque-Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple dispute in the courts of Mathura, a plaintiff in the matter on Thursday sent a legal notice to the Union of India and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) asking that they stop people from entering the Begum Sahiba Masjid near the Agra Fort and excavate the site to look for Hindu idols.
Advocate Mahendra Pratap Singh, whose suit in the temple-mosque dispute is currently being heard by a civil judge in Mathura, claimed that Mughal emperor Aurangazeb had after allegedly destroying the temple in Mathura, buried "jewel-studded" idols of Lord Krishna under the staircase of the Agra mosque.
The notice under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure threatens to drag the government to a civil court unless it acts on it within the stipulated time of two months. In addition to asking that visitors be "immediately" stopped from entering the Agra mosque, the notice asks the ASI to excavate the mosque site, retrieve the idols allegedly buried there, and restore them to the Keshav Dev Temple authorities in Mathura.
