Gyanvapi Mosque Case: A district court in Varanasi, while giving its verdict on the afternoon of Wednesday, January 31, has allowed Hindu petitioners to worship inside the sealed basement of Gyanvapi Mosque.
Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi case, said, “The Hindu side has been allowed to perform puja in the ‘Vyas basement’. The district administration will have to make arrangements within 7 days.”
In its order, the district court said that prayers can be performed by the priest nominated by the Vishwanath Temple Trust and arrangements should be made to remove the iron fence blocking the entry to the basement of the mosque.
It is noteworthy that during the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey, the Supreme Court had ordered sealing of this basement.
Akhlaq Ahmed, lawyer of the Muslim side i.e. Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, said that this decision is wrong. This order has been given overlooking the earlier orders.
There are four cellars in the basement of the mosque. One of these is still with the family of the priests who lived there. The family had argued in the petition that as hereditary priests, they should be allowed to enter the structure and offer prayers.
Earlier it was claimed that during the ASI investigation, debris of idols of Hindu deities was found. It was also claimed that parts of a pre-existing structure – described as a temple according to the ASI report – were used in the construction of the mosque.
In a significant judgment last month, the Allahabad High Court had dismissed all the petitions of the mosque committee challenging the civil suits seeking restoration of the temple at the site.
What is the Gyanvapi Masjid-Vishwanath Temple dispute?
The whole matter is related to the Gyanvapi Mosque located near the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Varanasi. The Hindu side claims that the mosque was built in place of the original Kashi Vishwanath temple after it was demolished in the 17th century.