Gyanvapi mosque management committee files plea to ban media coverage of ASI survey
The Varanasi district court on Wednesday banned all kinds of media bytes and interactions by any side of the petitioners related to the ongoing Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey at the Gyanvapi mosque premises. The order came after the mosque committee approached the court seeking direction from it to stop fake reports of Hindu religious structures, picture, and design allegedly being found during the ASI survey.
The Gyanvapi mosque management committee filed the plea in a Varanasi court here seeking a ban on the media coverage of the survey to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee joint secretary Syed Mohammad Yasin said the archaeological survey work is being done on the Gyanvapi mosque’s premises on orders of the court.
No statement has been given so far by the survey team or any of its officials, but newspapers and channels and on social media misleading news is being run continuously, he claimed, accusing many media houses to spread fake news. Yasin said that this will have a “wrong effect” on the people’s minds and that such news items should be stopped from being published. For this, “we gave an application in the court of District Judge A K Vishvesha on Tuesday, which is expected to be heard on Wednesday”, he said.
Amid the ongoing survey in the mosque, last Sunday, Yasin said the kind of baseless things being spread, if they are not stopped, then the Muslim side can boycott the survey. Yasin had alleged that during the survey on Saturday, a section of the media spread rumours that idols, tridents, and urns were found in the basement of the mosque, hurting the sentiments of the Muslim community. He had said that if such antics are not curbed, then the Muslim side may boycott the survey.
The survey of the mosque complex began on August 4 following court orders. A team from ASI has been conducting the survey for the sixth day on Wednesday, amidst heavy security. The scientific survey of the complex, adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath Temple, excluding Wuzukhana, began last Friday, following the Allahabad High Court’s order. The Allahabad High Court on August 3 dismissed the plea filed by the Muslim side, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, challenging the Varanasi court order allowing the ASI to conduct a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises, except the ‘Wazukhana’ area where a “Shivling” was claimed to have been found last year.
In July, a Varanasi court had directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple here. This was upheld by the Allahabad High Court and later by the Supreme Court.
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