Gyanvapi Mosque Temple Row: The District Court of Varanasi on Wednesday ordered to give Hindus the right to worship in the basement of Vyas Ji located in the Gyanvapi complex. The Muslim side has challenged this order in the Allahabad High Court. The High Court adjourned the hearing till February 6 on the petition of the Mosque Committee filed against the order of the Varanasi Court allowing worship.
Gyanvapi Row: The Allahabad High Court on Friday refused to grant an interim stay on the order of the Varanasi court, which prohibited worship in front of the idols in the ‘Vyas ji’s basement’ located in the basement of the Gyanvapi Mosque. Permission was granted. The High Court adjourned till February 6 the hearing on the petition of the Mosque Committee filed against the order of the Varanasi Court allowing worship in the basement of Vyas Ji located in the Gyanvapi Masjid complex.
The Anjuman Intejamia Masjid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi Masjid, has filed this appeal in the High Court challenging the order of the Varanasi court. Justice Rohit Ranjan Aggarwal adjourned the hearing on the mosque committee’s petition till February 6. In the appeal filed in the court, the Board of Trustees of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Chief Priest of Acharya Ved Vyas Peeth Temple Shailendra Kumar Pathak have been made parties.
In the appeal filed against the decision of the Varanasi court, it has been argued that the suit itself is not maintainable under the Places of Worship Act, 1991. Also, there was no discussion of the basement being owned by the Vyas family or being maintained for worship etc. as claimed in the present suit.
It is also alleged in the appeal that the main purpose of filing this suit is to create artificial controversy regarding the operation of Gyanvapi Mosque, where namaz is offered regularly. The Varanasi court, in its order dated January 31, 2024, had allowed Hindu devotees to offer prayers in the basement of Vyas ji within the Gyanvapi Masjid complex.
The court had said that the district administration should make necessary arrangements in this regard within the next 7 days. But a few hours after the Varanasi District Court gave Hindus the right to worship in the basement of Vyas ji located in the Gyanvapi complex, late on Wednesday night the basement was opened and cleaned and then worship was performed there.
President of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, Nagendra Pandey said on Thursday that after the order of the District Court, worship will now be conducted regularly in the basement of Vyas ji like before. The Hindu side claims that worship was held in this basement till the year 1993, but in the same year it was closed by the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government.
