New Delhi, July 28 - A group of historians, writers and intellectuals, including Irfan Habib, Sohail Hashmi and Ram Rahman, Tuesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to protect monuments that were being misused by the people on the pretext of praying.

In association with the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust, they said this is in clear violation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

'Many of these monuments were precious legacy of the country and under the Ancient Monuments Act, there could be no installation of worship wherever it had ceased,' they said in a statement.

'We called upon the prime minister, who is also in-charge of the ministry of culture, to initiate action to save these monuments from encroachment. We also call upon the chief minister of Delhi to rein in all such elements who are aiding and abetting the violation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958,' the statement said.

The statement was signed by Irfan Habib, Ram Rahman, Amar Farooqui, D.N.Jha, Prabhat Shukla, Arjun Dev, Sohail Hashmi, Zahoor Siddiqui, Shireen Moosvi, Suraj Bhan, Suvira Jaiswal and Archana Prasad.