Hindutva sets sights on iconic Ajmer shrine in India
Indian court admits petition claiming Hindu temple inside shrine of one of South Asia’s most revered 13th-century Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A court in India has admitted a petition claiming that a Hindu temple exists within the historic shrine Ajmer Dargah, escalating concerns over the growing use of courts to challenge Muslim religious sites under Hindu nationalist pressure.
The Ajmer civil court in Ajmer on Monday accepted the plea for hearing and issued notices to all respondents, including the Rajasthan state government, the archaeology department, and the Dargah Committee that administers the shrine. The matter is scheduled for its next hearing on Feb. 21.
The petition was filed by Rajvardhan Singh Parmar, head of the Maharana Pratap Sena, a Hindu nationalist organization, through a Supreme Court advocate.
Parmar claims that a Shivling dedicated to Lord Shiva exists within the dargah complex and that Hindu worship allegedly took place there in ancient times. He has submitted maps, photographs, survey-related material and affidavits collected during a statewide mobilization campaign in Rajasthan.
Ajmer Dargah, dedicated to the 13th-century Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, is among the most important Islamic shrines in South Asia, drawing millions of pilgrims — Muslims and non-Muslims alike — every year. Any legal challenge to its religious character carries deep symbolic and political weight.
The court’s decision comes amid a broader wave of litigation across India in which Hindu groups have sought judicial recognition of alleged temples at prominent mosques and dargahs.
Similar claims have been pursued at sites including Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque and Mathura’s Shahi Idgah, turning courts into battlegrounds for historical revisionism rooted in Hindutva ideology.
Rights advocates say these petitions follow a familiar pattern: historical claims based on contested interpretations are paired with mass affidavit drives and political mobilization, placing pressure on courts while normalizing the idea that Muslim religious spaces are inherently suspect or provisional.
The Ajmer case is not the first attempt to target the dargah. A separate petition filed in 2024 by a leader of the Hindu Sena — another Hindu nationalist group — made similar claims and was also admitted for hearing. Both matters, along with an application by the Dargah Committee, are now set to be heard together.
Analysts warn that repeated judicial scrutiny of Muslim sites risks undermining India’s Places of Worship Act, which was enacted to preserve the religious status of sites as they existed at independence. They argue that even when such claims fail, the legal process itself becomes a tool of intimidation, eroding security around Muslim institutions.
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