AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Emboldened by the Supreme Court verdict allowing the construction of a Ram temple on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the Hindutva brigade has set its sights on several other Muslim places of worship. The list includes mosques in Uttar Pradesh such as the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura, the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal and the Shamsi Shahi Masjid in Budaun. It also includes the Kamal Maula Masjid in Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi’s historic Jama Masjid, the Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan and the Taj Mahal.
The latest addition to the list is the Darul Uloom seminary in Deoband, Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh.
The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Hindu Raksha Dal has again harped on its claims that a Shiva temple lies buried beneath the seminary and has demanded an official investigation.
The group’s state president, Lalit Sharma, along with his supporters, submitted a memorandum to the district administration on Tuesday, urging the authorities to complete an inquiry within a fixed timeframe.
Sharma said his organisation had submitted a similar memorandum earlier, but alleged that no investigation had been carried out. He claimed the group possesses “evidence” to support its assertion that a Shiva temple exists about 14 feet below the campus. However, he declined to make it public, stating that it would be presented in court.
He demanded a scientific survey by the Archaeological Department and said the organisation would seek a court-ordered inquiry if needed. Sharma also alleged that the property is linked to “enemy property” and sought a probe into that claim.
Warning of escalation, Sharma said that if the administration failed to act soon, Shiva devotees would march from Haridwar carrying Ganga water to perform jalabhishek at the site, which the organisation claims is a Shiva temple. “If the investigation had been completed a month ago, we would not have needed to come again,” he said, adding that “Shiv devotees are even prepared to face bullets.”
Responding to questions about alleged irregularities in Ram Temple donation funds, Sharma said the construction of the temple was the priority and any irregularities should be investigated separately.
As of now, the Saharanpur district administration has not issued any official response.
Critics argue that the Deoband temple claim follows a familiar pattern: making an unverified historical claim about a prominent Muslim institution, demanding an archaeological survey, mobilising through provocative slogans like “Deo Van mein Shiv mandir leke rahenge”, and then using the resulting communal tension for visibility. The organisation has not submitted any official archaeological or documentary evidence so far.
The Hindu Raksha Dal is a fringe far-right Hindutva organisation headed nationally by Pinky Chaudhary alias Bhupendra Tomar. It is not a mainstream religious body but a self-styled vigilante group known for moral policing, hate speeches, and provocative protests.
Its Uttarakhand/Uttar Pradesh face Lalit Sharma has a history of inflammatory actions. These include threats to Kashmiri students after the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, in which 26 non-Muslims were killed. Sharma released a video warning Kashmiri Muslims to leave Dehradun. “Hindu Raksha Dal teams will step out… if we find any Kashmiri anywhere, we will teach them a lesson,” he said, leading to an FIR at Patel Nagar police station.
During a protest in Uttam Nagar, Delhi, Sharma declared that his group would play “khoon ki Holi (Holi with blood)” and would not allow Eid celebrations. He was quoted as saying, “Neither will Eid be celebrated this time, nor will we allow prayers to be offered.”
In Saharanpur, the group’s women cadres have been involved in spray-painting public infrastructure and in so-called “rescue” operations targeting interfaith couples, with Sharma described as their “biggest cheerleader”.
More recently, Sharma and two others were booked for allegedly threatening a gym owner, Deepak Kumar (Muhammad Deepak), whom they called a “secular bug,” and announcing a Rs 5.51 lakh reward for his killing after he defended an elderly Muslim shopkeeper harassed by Bajrang Dal members.
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