20-year-old video clips of Hindus performing puja at Bidar madrasa now go viral

BIDAR: A day after four people were arrested and an FIR was filed against nine Hindus in Bidar for forcibly entering the historic Khwaja Mahmud Gawan madrasa, 20-years old video clips of Hindus performing puja at the disputed madrasa are now going viral on social media.

Old videos of the procession are now going viral.

This comes on the back of some people from other minority community claiming that Hindus never offered puja at the madrasa.

The videos show that Hindus were performing puja during the Bhavani Devi procession, which was taken out from the Fort area in Bidar, passing through Chaubar, Gawan Chowk, town station and other madrasas including the Mahmud Gawan Madrasa roads, even as puja was offered at different places.

The videos were released to rebut claims that puja was not offered at the Mahmud Gawan madrasa.

Tension started brewing on Thursday night after a group of people entered the Mohammed Gawan madrasa and offered prayers to Goddess Bhavani Devi. A group of about 60 people entered the madrasa after breaking the locked gate and raised slogans hailing ‘Hindu Dharm ki Jai’, ‘Vande Matharam’ and ‘Jai Bhavani’ during the procession.

The Khwaja Mahmud Gawan madrasa is a historical structure and there is a practice where a small group of Hindus used to perform puja to the Khwaja pillars during Dasara festivities.  On Friday, four people were arrested and nine Hindus were booked for entering  the madrasa.

The Khwaja Mahmud Gawan madrasa is a historical structure.

Mohammad Shafiuddin, a resident of the city, lodged a complaint with the Town police station more than nine people, alleging that they trespassed and entered the madrasa with no prior permission. According to the complaint, some people were trying to instigate the other community, create communal unrest in the area, which was known for its communal harmony  and peace in society since centuries.

Police were deployed as a precautionary measure.

Bidar Superintendent of Police Kishore Babu said that they had declared a high alert in the area to maintain law and order. As many as 20 CPIs including a DySP, 20 PSIs and more than 300 police personnel were deployed in several areas around the Mohammad Gawan madrasa, Chaubara,  Gawan Chowk and in the Old City.