The decades-old Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath dispute has sprung back in the news once again. While there are several chapters to this long-drawn dispute, which goes as far back as 1991, let's look at the recent developments first.
On Monday, 16 May, a Varanasi court directed for a spot within the mosque complex to be sealed after a court-appointed advocate commissioner, Ajay Kumar Mishra, made a sensational claim that a Shivalinga was found in a pond during a videography survey.
This video assessment was ordered by the Varanasi civil court after a group of five women petitioners had sought a round-the-year access to pray at “a shrine behind the western wall of the mosque complex.”