Hindu prayers to continue at Gyanvapi, Allahabad HC rejects Masjid committee’s plea
On Monday, the Allahabad High Court rejected the plea filed by the Muslim side challenging the Varanasi court order allowing Hindu parties to offer prayers and puja in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi.
The plea was filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee challenging a January 31 district court order, permitting the conduct of Hindu prayers in the southern cellar or basement (Tehkhana) of the Gyanvapi.
The Hindu side has said that Hindu prayers were earlier offered by the family of one Somnath Vyas in the mosque’s cellar until 1993 when the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government allegedly stopped it.
Vishnu Shankar Jain representing the Hindu side said, “Today, the Allahabad High Court has dismissed the first appeal from orders of Anjuman Intezamia wherein the order of 17th and 31st January passed by Varanasi District Court was under challenge before Allahabad HC. The crux of the matter is that the ongoing puja in the ‘Vyas Tehkhana’ of Gyanvapi complex will continue.”
Advocate Hari Shankar Jain said, “It is a decision worth welcoming. The right that Hindus have to perform puja has been maintained by the High Court. Hindus were performing puja in the Vyas Tehkhana until 1993, but they were stopped unlawfully. They (the Muslim side) can move Supreme Court, but we are also ready to oppose.”
The main dispute over the Gyanvapi involves a claim by the Hindu side that the ancient Mahadev temple on the said land was destroyed during the rule of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century.
The Muslim side has maintained that the mosque predated Aurangzeb’s reign and that it had endured various alterations over time.
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