New Delhi: Four people have been arrested from a large crowd of Dussehra revellers who forcibly entered a 15th-century madrasa, chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Hindu Dharam Jai’, and performed Hindu rituals at the premises in Karnataka’s Bidar.Videos of the incident, which occurred on Thursday, October 6, were shared multiple times of social media. They show a big group shouting slogans amidst loud music and beating drums at the steps of the madrasa. The eventual rituals were done at a corner of the building, NDTV has reported.Visuals from historic Mahmud Gawan masjid & madrasa, Bidar, #Karnataka (5th October). Extremists broke the gate lock & attempted to desecrate. @bidar_police @BSBommai how can you allow this to happen? BJP is promoting such activity only to demean Muslims pic.twitter.com/WDw1Gd1b93— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) October 6, 2022The Mahmud Gawan Madrasa was designated a heritage site by the Archeological Survey of India and listed among monuments of national importance. Inaugurated in 1460, it was named after and founded by Mahmud Gawan, a Persian-origin prime minister in the Bahamani Sultanate of the Deccan.The Mahmud Gawan Madrasa in Karnataka’s Bidar. Photo: The WireMembers of the Muslim community had demanded action against those responsible, promising larger protests if no arrests are made by Friday, October 7.Nine people have been booked and four of them arrested.However, Additional Superintendent of Police, Mahesh Meghannava, told Indian Express that the charges against the nine pertain to trespassing into heritage structures illegally. This indicates that charges pertaining to causing communal unrest were not invoked against the accused.The action was taken after a complaint was lodged by one Syed Mubhashir Ali at the Market police station.Police also denied that the madrasa had sustained damages to its structure as a result of the Hindu revellers cracking open a coconut during the rituals – an allegation made by members of the Muslim community.Deccan Herald has quoted an officer of the Archeological Survey of India, Aniruddha Desai, as having said that “devotees of Bhavani Mandir perform a symbolic puja every year on a platform near Gawan Madrasa, which once housed a peepal tree.”Desai said that the cracking of a coconut is a “tradition.”
