No Ganesh Festival At Bengaluru's Eidgah Maidan After Supreme Court Hearing

IndiaNo Ganesh Festival At Bengaluru's Eidgah Maidan After Supreme Court Hearing
No Ganesh Festival At Bengaluru's Eidgah Maidan After Supreme Court Hearing
Karnataka government said allow temple "at least for next two days" and "no permanent structure will be built"; but waqf board cited 200-year history
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All India Reported by Arvind Gunasekar, Edited by Aarish Chhabra
Updated : August 30, 2022 9:25 pm IST

New Delhi/Bengaluru: Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at Bengaluru's Eidgah Maidan will not be held, after an order of "status quo" by the Supreme Court today on a petition by the Karnataka Waqf Board. This ended a deadlock just in time — the Hindu festival is tomorrow and day after — as the state government was insisting on giving permissions to set up pandals.
The High Court had earlier said the government could give permissions, but the waqf board went to the Supreme Court, arguing no other religious festivals have been held there "for 200 years". The court's three-judge bench thus ordered "status quo as of today" at the 2.5-acre ground.
A larger question is at the nub of the matter: Who owns the ground, the state government or the waqf board? That remains for the High Court to decide.

Lawyer cites Babri
During the hearing, the state's lawyer asked for "a government-managed temple" to be allowed for two days, saying "no permanent structure will be built".

At this, the board's lawyer shot back, "The then CM of UP also gave an assurance, in the Babri Masjid case. You know what happened there," referring to the 1992 demolition of the mosque, in place of which a Ram Temple is now coming up after a Supreme Court judgment.