A mosque management committee member has disputed the claim that a Shivling was found inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex after water was drained out of the pond used by Muslims for ablution (wazoo) before offering namaz.
The member said that the object found was part of the water fountain mechanism at the wazookhana, adding that the mosque management was not given a chance to present their argument before the court issued the order to seal the area based on the claims made by the petitioners.
The court-mandated videography survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex ended on Monday, 16 May, with the counsel representing the petitioners' side claiming that a Shivling had been found after water was drained out of the pond. The Varanasi district court later ordered the district magistrate (DM) to seal the area where a Shivling had allegedly been found and prohibited the entry of any person to the area.
Syed Mohammad Yasin, the joint secretary of the Anjuman Intezamiya Masjid Committee, which manages the affairs of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, also questioned the object's classification as Shivling, reported Hindustan Times.
Yasin said all mosques built during the Mughal era had fountains at the wazookhana, adding that, like other mosques, a green stone had also been fixed at the fountain of the Gyanvapi mosque.
AIMPLB Condemns Survey, Sealing of Wazookhana
Meanwhile, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) condemned the survey of the mosque and the sealing of the wazookhana, terming it as gross injustice to Muslims.
The AIMPLB said in a statement on Monday, 16 May, that the situation was unacceptable to Muslims and Gyanvapi "was a mosque and will continue to remain a mosque till the end".
"Gyanvapi is a mosque and will remain a mosque. The attempt to transform it into a temple is nothing more than a conspiracy to spread hate by communal forces," AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said.
Meanwhile, Rais Ahmad Ansari, an advocate of the AIMC called the petitioners' claim about a Shivling being found "misleading".
"There's only a fountain in the mosque's wazookhana," Ansari said.
SC to Hear Case Today
The Supreme Court will, on Tuesday, 17 May, hear a petition filed against the video survey ordered by the Varanasi district court.
A two-judge bench, comprising Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha, will hear the plea of the Committee of Management of Anjuman Intezamia Masjid.
Yasin also said the order to seal the pond would be mentioned during the hearing on Tuesday.
"I am shocked to see that lawyers of plaintiffs are making claims that a Shivling was found inside the Gyanvapi complex despite the fact that the court-appointed commission's report has not been submitted yet," the mosque committee's counsel, Abhay Nath Yadav, said, according to The Times of India.
"On submission of the advocate commissioner's report, the court has to decide whether it is a Shivling or a fountain. The court commission was formed on the demand of the plaintiffs and their lawyers; they should be patient and show faith in the rule of law instead of indulging in acts that can disturb communal amity," he added.
Meanwhile, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi said he was about 19 or 20 years old when "the Babri Masjid was "snatched from us", and the minority community would not allow it to happen to people who are of that age now.
What is the Case?
The location of Gyanvapi Mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi is adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. It is believed that it was built in the seventeenth century after the demolition of an existing Vishweshwar temple.
Some are of the opinion that the original lingam of the erstwhile Vishweshwar temple was hidden away in the adjoining Gyanvapi well during a raid by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
The court, in April this year, ordered a video inspection of the site after five women affiliated with the right-wing group Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh filed petitions saying they were entitled to have daily darshan, pooja, and perform rituals at the site of Maa Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesh, Lord Hanuman, and other "visible and invisible deities within old temple complex."
However, the survey could not take place as the mosque committee opposed videography inside the mosque, and accused Advocate Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra of bias and demanded his replacement.
The Varanasi court on Thursday, 12 May, ordered that the survey work will continue, and instead of replacing Mishra, appointed two more lawyers – Vishal Kumar Singh and Ajay Singh – to accompany him. The survey work had begun on Saturday.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times and The Times of India.)
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