What is the Places of Worship Act and Why is it so controversial?

Nearly a week after a district court in Sambhal ordered a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, the sleepy Uttar Pradesh town has been rocked with violence that has left five dead and several others injured. Now Sambhal’s Jama Masjid is a “protected monument”, having been notified on December 22, 1920 under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. It has also been declared as a Monument of National importance.