Gyanvapi Mosque: Court Grants Hindus Permission To Basement, Muslim Body Raises Concern
On Wednesday, a Varanasi court granted permission to Hindu devotees to worship within the sealed basement of the Gyanvapi mosque. According to the court”s ruling, devotees are now allowed to offer prayers at “Vyas Ka Tekhana,” a previously restricted area within Varanasi”s Gyanvapi mosque.
Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is representing the Hindu side, said the Hindu side allowed to offer prayers at “Vyas Ka Tekhana”.
“The District Administration will have to make arrangements within 7 days. Everyone will now have the right to perform puja,” he added.
Meanwhile, the vice-president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Malik Moatasim Khan has expressed concern over the misleading campaign regarding Gyanvapi Masjid.
In a statement to the media, Malik Moatasim Khan said, “We are concerned over certain sectarian and mischievous people orchestrating a misleading campaign regarding the Gyanvapi Masjid. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report is being misinterpreted and circulated with the express intent of misleading the public, influencing the judiciary, and spoiling the communal harmony in the country by creating a rift between two religious communities. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind believes that the ASI report does not constitute conclusive evidence in this controversial matter.”
During the day”s proceedings in Varanasi, the court also instructed the district administration to facilitate the necessary arrangements for the “puja” to be conducted by the devotees. Additionally, the court called upon the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust to appoint a pujari for the purpose.
The JIH Vice President said, “We wish to emphasize the need to abide by the “Places of Worship Act 1991” in letter and spirit.
“The said Act provides a guarantee for the preservation of the religious character of places of public worship as they existed on August 15, 1947. Staking claim to the places of worship belonging to other religious communities based on “Aastha” or the alleged presence of another pre-existing religious structure will open a Pandora”s box of claims and counter-claims,” a statement from JIH said.
Malik Moatasim Khan said, “In the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid case too, the ASI had claimed the existence of a non-Islamic structure’ under the mosque. However, the Supreme Court of India gave precedence to the opinion of prominent archaeologists who denied any possibility of the Babri Masjid being built by demolishing a pre-existing Ram temple. JIH supports the views of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) that the ASI report on the Gyanvapi Masjid should be thoroughly reviewed by experts, and its fate should be determined by the court. and not by a prejudiced media campaign.”
Last week, after the ASI or Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) released a report saying that a large Hindu temple existed before the construction of the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, Hindu right wing organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) to handover the original site of the Varanasi-based mosque to the Hindu Society.
