AIMPLB rues verdict in Gyanvapi mosque

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 13 : All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Monday said that the Varanasi court order given in the Gyanvapi Shrinagar Gauri dispute is very disappointing and painful.
"The government should strongly protect the 1991 Worship Act otherwise the minority community will be disappointed with justice and will feel that all the doors of justice are closed for them," the board said after a Varanasi Court on Monday dismissed a plea of Anjuman Islamia Masjid committee challenging the maintainability of the suit filed by five Hindu women seeking worshipping rights in the Gyanvapi mosque compound.
District Judge AK Vishvesh delivered the verdict in the Gyanvapi Shrinagar Gauri dispute case and posted the matter for further hearing on September 22.
"The court rejected the Muslim side's petition and said the suit is maintainable. The next hearing of the case is on September 22," said Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi mosque case.
"It's a win for the Hindu community. The next hearing is on Sep 22. It's a foundation stone for the Gyanvapi temple. Appeal to people to maintain peace," said Sohan Lal Arya, petitioner in the Gyanvapi case.
The petition was filed by five women seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are said to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque, which is located close to Kashi Vishwanath temple.
Following this, a Varanasi court ordered the survey of the mosque complex. Following this, a local Varanasi court ordered a videography survey of the complex in May. The survey work was completed on May 16 and the report was presented in the court on May 19.
After the videography survey claims were made by the Hindu side that a structure, resembling a Shivling, was found in the mosque complex but the Masjid committee contested that it was a fountain and not a Shivling.
"Several sculptures of gods and goddesses along with other structures related to Hindu belief were seen in the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi," said advocate Ajay Kumar Mishra, who was appointed commissioner by Varanasi court to survey the Gyanvapi-Gauri Shringar complex but was later removed for leaking the information.
However, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee has said the Gyanvapi mosque is a Waqf property and has questioned the maintainability of the plea.
After the survey, the lawyers representing the Hindu side claimed that a shivling was found at the mosque premises. They filed an application for the protection of the shivling, whereupon the civil judge directed the district magistrate, Varanasi, to seal the area where the shivling was sighted. It also directed the deployment of the CRPF to protect the sealed area and prohibited people from entering it.
Notably, Section 3 of the Worship Act 1991 bars the conversion of places of worship. It states, "No person shall convert any place of worship of any religious denomination or any section thereof into a place of worship of a different section of the same religious denomination or of a different religious denomination or any section thereof."