Jahanvi Agarwal
The survey of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Mosque has been postponed by the Supreme Court till 5 p.m. on July 26, 2023, i.e., Wednesday. The Supreme Court further directed the mosque committee to challenge a district court’s ruling authorizing the survey in the Allahabad High Court.
The Gyanvapi mosque management committee – Anjuman Intezamia Masjid – had mentioned a plea in the apex court against the Varanasi district court’s order on Friday for an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the mosque complex, which is adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
On Monday morning, a 30-person ASI team entered the Gyanvapi complex to conduct the scientific study as instructed by the court in response to the Hindu petitioners’ argument that the mosque was constructed on top of a temple.
The Muslim side requested a postponement of the survey and filed a petition with the Supreme Court, which was heard on Monday.
On Friday, District Judge A.K. Vishvesh urged the ASI to conduct a thorough scientific investigation, including excavations, if necessary, to ascertain whether the mosque in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, was constructed on the site of an older temple.
Five Hindu ladies who were the initial petitioners requested the survey in order to obtain permission to pray at the “Shringar Gauri Sthal” inside the complex of shrines.
At the hearing on Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that not even a single brick had been taken out, and it wasn’t planned to be removed either. Mehta informed the apex court that the current activity consists of measurements, photos, and radar and won’t harm the structure.
“This place has been a mosque since the 1500s,” the Muslim side questioned the survey’s “tearing hurry.” The mosque committee argued before the supreme court that “there must be a status quo order,” he said while citing a previous ruling by the Supreme Court i.e., Issue Notice for Carbon Dating of ‘Shivling’ that stopped the carbon dating of a monument that Muslims believe is a fountain and Hindus claim is a Shivling.
The previous ruling given by the Varanasi district court was that they asked the Gyanvapi mosque management to file its objections to the plea for carbon dating of the structure claimed to be a “Shivling” found inside the complex by the next date of hearing in the matter.
During the second survey ordered by the court in May 2022, this building was discovered in the mosque’s “wazhukhana,” or ablution pond. This location is now closed as a result of the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling, so the ASI was unable to conduct the “scientific survey” there.
In the meantime, the top court has stayed the district court’s verdict and urged the Allahabad High Court to make a new decision, according to advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is defending the Hindu side of the issue.
Jain further added that:
“We will place our side at the Allahabad HC. The Muslim side, Anjuman Intezamia, misled the SC and said that digging has started in the mosque, which is not true.”