NEW DELHI: Whitewashing of Sambhal Jama Masjid began on Sunday after the orders of the Allahabad high court, which also allowed the mosque to be decorated with lights without any tampering.
The high court, in its March 12 order, permitted decorative lighting of the Masjid’s exterior, provided no structural modifications are made. The court scheduled the next hearing in the case for April 8.
The mosque, a Mughal-era structure, gained national attention following unrest on November 24, 2024, which left four people dead after a local court ordered a survey of the site.
The dispute around the Shahi Jama Masjid arose after a legal petition claimed that the mosque was built over an ancient Hari Har Mandir.
The petition led to a court-ordered survey, which sparked significant tension in the area.
In November 2024, clashes erupted between protesters and the police, reportedly resulting in multiple deaths as security forces attempted to control the unrest.
The dispute also reignited debates around the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which legally upholds the religious status of sites as they existed on August 15, 1947.

What is the Places of Worship Act?

The Places of Worship Act, 1991, aims to maintain the religious character of places of worship as they were on August 15, 1947.
It prohibits the conversion of any religious site from one faith to another and bars courts from entertaining any legal disputes regarding such conversions. The only exception to this law is the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, which was already under litigation when the act was passed.
The legislation was introduced to prevent communal conflicts over places of worship. However, recent legal challenges, particularly regarding mosques in Varanasi, Mathura, and Sambhal, have brought the act under renewed debate, with some groups arguing that historical grievances should be reconsidered despite the law’s restrictions.