A day after a district court ruled that Hindus can offer prayers in the sealed basement of the Gyanvapi mosque, sources mentioned that the state and temple administration have made adjustments to the barricades and made way for devotees to start prayers at ‘Vyas Parivar Tehkhana’. A priest has also been selected by the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust and the petitioner, who claimed his grandfather offered puja in the cellar up to December 1993.
PRAYER BEGINS AT ‘VYAS PARIVAR TEHKHANA’
In relation to the Gyanvapi case, Vishnu Shankar Jain, the attorney representing the Hindu side, states, “Following the Varanasi court’s directive, the state government and district administration have made adjustments to the barricades, and daily worship has commenced in the ‘Vyas Parivar Tehkhana.’”
DEVOTEES PLAN TO VISIT ‘VYAS KA TEKHANA’ EVERY DAY
‘WE ARE FEELING PROUD TODAY’: HINDU SIDE ADVOCATE
After the court granted permission for puja in the ‘Vyas Ka Tekhana’, Advocate Sohan Lal Arya says, “We are feeling very proud today. The court’s decision yesterday was unprecedented…The arrangements have been made but it (Vyas Ka Tekhana) has not been opened for the devotees yet…”
While the VHP welcomed the order, Muslim side counsel Mumtaz Ahmed said they will challenge it in the high court. The judge has said the plaintiffs can submit their objections before the court on February 8. The court has directed the local administration to make arrangements within seven days for prayers in the cellar. This will involve “proper arrangements” with metal barricades at the complex.
BARRICADES INFRONT OF NANDI STATUE TO BE REMOVED
According to Hindu side counsel Madan Mohan Yadav, the barricades before the Nandi statue facing the mosque’s ‘wazukhana’ will be removed to make way. The order by judge A K Vishvesha comes day after an Archeological Survey of India (ASI) report on the mosque complex was made public.
ASI SURVEY SUGGESTED MOSQUE CONSTRUCTED OVER HINDU TEMPLE
The ASI survey, ordered by the same court, in connection with a related case, suggested that the mosque was constructed during Aurangzeb’s rule over the remains of a Hindu temple. Wednesday’s order was delivered on the plea of Shailendra Kumar Pathak who claimed that his maternal grandfather, priest Somnath Vyas, offered prayers till December 1993, advocate Yadav said.
PUJA STOPPED DURING MULAYAM’S TIME AFTER BABRI INCIDENT
He said the puja was stopped during the tenure of chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav after the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya welcomed the “historic decision”. The BJP refrained from commenting on the development, saying the matter is sub-judice.
MUSLIM SIDE SAID NO WORSHIP DONE TILL 1993
During the hearing, the Muslim sides disputed the petitioner’s version. It said no idols existed in the cellar so there was no question of prayers being offered there till 1993. The Muslim side had also countered the petitioner’s claim that the basement was under his grandfather’s control.
The petitioner further claimed that in accordance with “vansanugat” (dynastic) his family had control of the cellar even during the British rule and they performed puja. In an earlier order on January 17, the Varanasi court had directed that the district magistrate should take charge of the cellar. But it had not then given any directions on the right to offer prayers there.
