Court approves 'non-invasive' mosque inspection in Varanasi
NEW DELHI:
Following clearance from the Indian Supreme Court with the stipulation that
nothing intrusive be done, authorities on Friday started the study of the
Gyanvyapi mosque in Varanasi, which was constructed by Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb.
The two-term
parliamentary district of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is Varanasi, a city in
the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Modi was the driving force behind
the Hindutva movement that resulted in the Babri mosque's destruction in 1992.
Other than the Babri mosque, which was in dispute at the time, a rule
established by the Narasimha Rao-led government prohibits new legal claims on
or damage to or destruction of religious sites.
The
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), according to media reports, has been
given four weeks to deliver its report to a Varanasi court. However, the
district court's survey ruling had been contested by the mosque committee in
the Allahabad High Court.
On Thursday,
the high court rejected the mosque committee's request to block the district
court's judgment asking the ASI to carry out the study to ascertain whether the
mosque was constructed on top of an earlier temple.
In the end,
the committee took the case to the Indian Supreme Court, which heard it on
Friday. The ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque, according to the Anjuman
Intezamia Masjid Committee, will go down in history and "reopen wounds
from the past... History has taught us something." "What happened in
December 1992 raises doubt and mistrust at every turn," said Huzefa
Ahmadi, the lawyer for the mosque committee.
The ASI
study aims to delve into the events of the previous 500 years. It would
reignite old wounds, according to Mr. Ahmadi.
A bench
consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala
and Manoj Misra said, "Let's not get into the past right now."
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, speaking on behalf of ASI and the UP
government, pledged no excavation work will be done and no structure inside the
mosque will be affected after the Supreme Court instructed the ASI to utilize a
non-invasive manner in its study.
The ASI
started up its scientific inspection of the Gyanvapi facility again on Friday.
The survey started at 7 a.m. (local time), and it was interrupted for two hours
to accommodate Friday prayers, according to news agency PTI.
The district
authorities have sent out a huge number of security guards to maintain peace
and order close to the Gyanvapi complex. Five Hindu ladies requested permission to worship Maa Shrinagar Gauri on the exterior wall of the mosque
complex, which gave rise to a decades-old lawsuit surrounding the mosque that
has recently picked up steam.
0 Comments