Karnataka minister warns ‘fringe’ group MP: COMMUNAL VIOLENCE OVER IDOL INSTALLATION

Bengaluru, May 17: Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra on Tuesday warned stringent action against anyone challenging law and order. His reaction came following claims by a fringe group ‘Narendra Modi Vichar Manch’ that the Masjid-e-Ala at Srirangapatna in Mandya district was a Hanuman temple and they should be allowed to worship there.

The group recently approached the Mandya deputy commissioner on May 13 claiming that the Masjid-e-Ala was ‘Moodala Bagilu Anjaneya Swami temple’, which the 18th century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan had destroyed and built a mosque over it. The group led by C.T. Manjunath, secretary, demanded that Hindus should be allowed to perform prayers to Hanuman inside the mosque.

Reacting to the incident, Jnanendra said he was aware of the development and called upon people not to challenge law and order to resolve the dispute on their own.

“If anyone challenges law and order then they will be dealt with accordingly. Hence, everyone should live harmoniously. We will go by the court order,” he added.

In his petition to the deputy commissioner of Mandya, Manjunath said many historians have

Communal violence broke out in the district headquarters of Neemuch under Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh late on Monday night over installation of Hanuman statue near a mosque in the town.

The warring groups pelted stones at each other and set on fire some vehicles, leading the local administration to impose section 144 of CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code) in the town, police said on Tuesday.

According to the police, a group of people installed a Hanuman statue near a mosque in the ‘Purana Kacheri’ (old court) area in the town late on Monday. This was opposed by the people present in the mosque. Heated exchanges ensued between them which later took a violent turn.

documented the existence of Temple, which Tipu Sultan had allegedly destroyed during his regime and converted into a mosque.