Gyanvapi Case: Hindu Petitioners Win, a Big Step in Varanasi Court

Patna (CNA Media/Insaaf Times) Five women wanted permission for yearlong puja and rituals in a part of the mosque. They claimed that there were idols of Hindu gods and goddesses there.Muslim petitioners refuted the petition, and said they are ready to take the fight to the Supreme Court.Their challenge was rejected on all 3 accounts they cited – the most important one being the 1991 law that froze the status of a place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.The court said the petitioners don’t want ownership, only the right to worship.Earlier this year, a lower court had ordered the centuries-old mosque be filmed based on the petition by the women.Controversially leaked by the Hindu petitioners, they claimed they found a ‘shivling’ in the pond, wudu area, of the mosque.The court then sealed the pond and banned congregational prayers in the mosque. The gathering was limited to 20 people.Gyanvapi mosque committee challenged in the Supreme Court that the filming inside the mosque was a violation of the 1991 law (Places of Worship Act).Muslim petitioners argued, “Such petitions and sealing of mosques will lead to public mischief and communal disharmony, will affect mosques across the country”.The Supreme Court assigned the case to the city’s most senior judge, in May, referring to the “complexity and sensitivity” of the issue and said it requires experienced handling.Besides Ayodhya and Mathura, the Gyanvapi mosque (located in PM’s constituency) is one of the several mosques that Hindu fanatics believe were built on ruins of temples. It was one of the three temple-mosque rows that the BJP raised in the 1980s and 90s that gained national prominence.

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