– Raheem Khan
Jaipur, Jan. 21: The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Rajasthan, has condemned the recent misleading and inflammatory remarks of BJP MP Ramcharan Bohra regarding Dhai Din Ka Jhopda located in Ajmer.
In a statement, PUCL Rajasthan President Bhanwar Meghwanshi and General Secretary Anant Bhatnagar said PUCL considers this a conspiracy to break the social harmony of Rajasthan, especially Ajmer.
PUCL is surprised that Ramcharan Bohra, who is a public representative, stated at the 78th Foundation Day of Rajasthan University on January 8, that Dhai Din Ka Jhopda located near the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer was a Sanskrit college during the reign of Vigrahraj Chauhan, which was demolished and rebuilt by Qutbuddin Aibak in 1294. He also said its form should be changed and converted back to a Sanskrit college. Bohra also repeated this demand in a letter to the Union Government and also tried to make it a political issue.
Bohra’s statement is an attempt to create communal hatred in Ajmer, the city of religious harmony.
His digging up the buried history and giving it political form is sign of a distorted mentality, displaying his lack of knowledge of history. The MP isn’t aware that Aibak died in 1210, while he is talking about the demolition of the Sanskrit school by him in 1294. It’s a fact that Aibak never came to Ajmer and at that time Ajmer was under Iltutmish. It’s also not historically correct to call Dhai Din Ka Jhopda a center for the study of Sanskrit because there was no tradition of language-based study centers in the 12th century. Many Jain texts confirm that there was a center for the study of Jainism at that time. Therefore, it isn’t possible to determine what happened at the said place 800 years ago.
For centuries, Dhai Din Ka Jhopda has been established as a historical building under ASI protection. Thousands of tourists from home and abroad visit it and become familiar with the glory of Indian architectural art.
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Bohra is probably also not aware that the Parliament passed Places of Worship Act, 1991, which prohibits the change of the original form of all religious places established in 1947.
PUCL alleged that after the MP’s statement, some people tried to enter Dhai Din Ka Jhopda and chanted mantras, which was stopped by people present there. This incident reinforces the fear that in future, communal elements will try to increase hatred by exploiting this statement.
PUCL believes that if the government and the MP want to promote Sanskrit education, they should try to improve the condition of Sanskrit college and Sanskrit schools running in Ajmer.
It’s condemnable to do cheap politics by taking the name of a historical building which has a reputation as a tourist destination. PUCL considers Bohra’s statement a conspiracy to create communal tension in Ajmer and condemns it.
PUCL demanded that the MP withdraw his statement immediately, the government take action against him for violating the Places of Worship Act, 1991, and ensure that Bohra’s remarks do not lead to any further communal tension in Ajmer.
