May 15, 2026: MP High Court declaring Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Complex a temple and quashing the ASI circular allowing namaz is not an isolated verdict. This fits contemporary Hindutva politics of recasting mosques/dargahs as 'disputed' sites by claiming that they were built over demolished temples, and by relying upon mythology, selective archaeology, litigation, propaganda and political mobilisation.
This strikes at the spirit of the 1991 Places of Worship Act, which froze the religious character of places of worship as they existed at Independence and was enacted to prevent endless communal litigation. This politics of ‘looking beneath foundations’ is not about history or faith, rather it is aimed at reshaping India’s constitutional secularism by turning medieval conquest narratives into contemporary majoritarian claims.
-- Central Committee, CPI(ML) Liberation
