Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 17 (ANI): The Varanasi civil court-ordered to seal ‘wazukhana’ in Gyanvapi mosque after “big Shivling” was found, said Lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side on Tuesday.
Speaking to ANI, Jain said, “During the survey exercise yesterday, we found a well-like structure in the middle of the wazukhana. We requested the Commissioner to reduce the water level at the wazukhana. When the water was reduced, we reached the well-like structure and found a big Shivling. The Shivling has a diameter of around 4 metres and a height of around 3 feet. I believe it is deeper inside the ground.”
“It was necessary to put the fact under the knowledge of the court. We moved an application in the court seeking order to preserve and secure this important piece of evidence. Following this, the court ordered the CRPF commandants to protect it round-the-clock and UP DGP and Chief Secretary to monitor it,” he said.
The lawyer said the wuzu should not be performed there since Shivling was found there.
“The area has been sealed. And, performing wuzu at the place of Shivling is not justified. So the court gave the order to seal the wazukhana area in the mosque,” Jain said.
Asked about the claims by the other party that the structure is not Shivling but a fountain, Jain said, “We understand the difference between fountain and Shivling. If it is a fountain then it would have a different system. It is a Shivling.”
Notably, the Supreme Court will be hearing the plea seeking a stay on the survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi today.
The SC bench, headed by Justice DY Chandrachud, will hear the plea of the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee on Tuesday.
On this, Jain said, “I believe the matter in Supreme Court has gone infructuous. They (Muslim party) already complied the order they challenged in the Supreme Court. They participated in exercise and were part of the commission. Now can they challenge it after participating? We believe Supreme Court will not interfere in the matter.”
The three-day-long court-monitored videography survey of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi concluded on Monday.
As the survey was completed, the Hindu petitioner in the case, Sohan Lal Arya on Monday claimed that the committee found a Shivling at the complex. Arya, who accompanied the court commission for the mosque survey, said that they have found “conclusive evidence”.
The survey was conducted in accordance with the Varanasi Civil Court’s order to continue the survey despite objections from the mosque authorities. After the conclusion of the survey, the Varanasi court ordered the District Magistrate of Varanasi, Kaushal Raj Sharma, “to seal the area where the Shivling was found and to bar people from going to the place.”
In its order, the court said that the DM, police commissioner and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandant Varanasi will be responsible for the security of the sealed area. The civil court had appointed a court commissioner to conduct the survey and videography of the site and the same was challenged before Allahabad High Court, which dismissed the appeal on April 21. The April 21 order of the High Court was challenged in the apex court.
Five women had filed a petition in the court seeking permission for daily worship at the Shringar Gauri temple, which is claimed to be situated inside the Gyanvapi Mosque premises. The order of the civil court for undertaking survey and videography at the premises was subsequently given by the court.
Another petition, which was filed by one Vijay Shankar Rastogi, had contended that the entire premises belonged to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and that the Gyanvapi Mosque is only a part of the temple complex, is also pending in the court since 1991.
Rastogi had also claimed that the Kashi Vishwanath Temple had been built over two thousand years ago and the temple was demolished by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Advocate Vishal Singh, the Court-appointed special assistant commissioner, in Varanasi, said that the survey was conducted in an unhindered manner. (ANI)
Gyanvapi Masjid case: Shivling claim ‘attempt to create communal disharmony’, says AIMPLB
New Delhi [India], May 17 (ANI): Following the Varanasi court’s order to seal the area in the Gynavapi Masjid complex where lawyers claimed that a Shivling was found, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Monday termed the claim ‘unfair’ and an ‘attempt to create communal disharmony’.
As the third day of the court-ordered videography survey of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi concluded on Monday, the Hindu petitioner in the case, Sohan Lal Arya claimed that the committee found a Shivling at the complex.
Arya, who accompanied the court commission for the mosque survey, said that they have found a “conclusive evidence”. During a court-mandated videography survey, the counsel representing the Hindu side claimed that the Shivling was found close to the “wazookhana”- a small reservoir used by Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering the namaz. “It was the third day of the survey. A stone was found there. We are claiming it to be Shivling. It is around 3 feet tall. It was at the spot where Muslims performed wuzu. They had claimed it to be a fountain but after cleaning it was found to be Shivling,” lawyer Deepak Singh told ANI.
In a statement issued by the AIMPLB on Monday, the board’s general secretary Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said, “The Gyanvapi mosque is a mosque and will remain a mosque. The attempt to declare it a temple is nothing more than a conspiracy to create communal disharmony. It is a matter of constitutional rights and is against the law.”
He further said, “In 1937, in the case of Deen Mohammad Vs State Secretary, the court had decided on the basis of oral testimony and documents that this entire compound (Gyanvapi mosque complex) belongs to the Muslim Waqf and Muslims have the right to offer namaz in it,” he said.
“The court had also decided how much of the disputed land is a mosque and how much is a temple. At the same time, it was decided that wazookhana would remain wazookhana,” said Rahmani. The AIMPLB general secretary said, “The 1991 Places of Worship Act was passed by Parliament, which summarizes that whatever place of worship has been established in 1947 will be kept intact.”
Citing an example of the Supreme Court verdict on the Babri Masjid case in 2019, Rahmani said the apex court’s judgment clearly stated that all places of worship will now be subject to this law and this law is in accordance with the basic spirit of the Constitution of India.
The AIMPLB general secretary said that the board approached the Allahabad High Court in the matter which is still pending. Similarly, the Gyanvapi Masjid administration also knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court against the decision of the civil court. “The issue is being heard in the Supreme Court, but ignoring all these points, the civil court first ordered a survey and then accepted its report and ordered the closure of the wazookhana area,” said Rahmani.
“Wait for the decision of Allahabad High Court and protect all religious places as per the law of 1991. And if the religious sites are changed with such an imaginary argument, then the whole country will be pushed into turmoil, because many big temples are made by converting Buddhist and Jain shrines and their traces are also visible there. Muslims cannot tolerate this atrocity. The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board will fight this injustice at every level,” added Rahmani.
AIMPLB’s statement came a day ahead of the Supreme Court’s hearing on a plea seeking a stay on the survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex. A bench, headed by Justice DY Chandrachud, will hear the plea of the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee today, May 17. The three days long survey, however, has been completed. (ANI)
