A local court in Varanasi ordered that a part of the Gyanvapi Mosque be sealed on May 16 after lawyers for five Hindu plaintiffs alleged that a Shivling was discovered in the mosque’s ablution water tank on the final day of a Court Commissioner-led video inspection.
The stated object, however, was not a shivling, according to the mosque’s caretakers, but rather a fragment of a stone fountain in the wazu khana (ablution tank). They said they will file an objection to the civil court’s decisions and take the matter to higher courts to fight what they called a one-sided shutting off of a portion of the mosque grounds. The court commission’s work was completed on May 16 with a 135-hour inspection session, according to officials.
On May 17, the Court Commissioner appointed by a Civil Judge must provide a report on the inspection. Since May 6, the proceedings have lasted for more than four days.
Following the conclusion of the court-commission hearing on May 16, Hari Shankar Jain, a lawyer representing the Hindu plaintiffs, filed an application in the court of Civil Judge Senior Division Ravi Kumar Diwakar, alleging that a Shivling was discovered on the mosque’s premises during the inspection.
Mr. Jain demanded that the area be shut and that entry be restricted since it was an “essential piece of evidence.”
Judge Diwakar granted the application and ordered District Magistrate (Varanasi) Kaushal Raj Sharma to lock the area where the Shivling was discovered and restrict all people from entering.
The CRPF Commandant, DM, and Police Commissioner were also ordered to protect and secure the sealed area by the court.
‘I discovered all proof’
While Hindu plaintiffs’ lawyer Vishnu Jain claimed that a Shivling measuring 12 feet by 4 feet in diameter and three feet deep was discovered at the ablution tank, his colleague Subash Nandan Chaturvedi claimed that the Court Commissioner had ordered the water from the tank to be drained at the Hindu plaintiffs’ request.
“We discovered all of the proof we had claimed there.” Mr. Chaturvedi informed journalists that the premises contained Hindu religious and cultural icons. The object believed to be a Shivling, according to Sayin Yasin, joint secretary of the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid, the mosque’s caretaker, was a component of a fountain.
“It’s not what we’d call a Shivling.” Mr. Yasin told The Hindu that it is a portion of a fountain.
According to Mr. Yasin, Mughal-era mosques typically contained a hauz (water tank) with fountains. The fountain was approximately two feet high and two feet broad and was made of stone. Mr. Yasin stated the “little fountain” was in the middle of a well-like fountain that was 2.5 feet high and 5 feet wide. Mr. Yasin further claimed that the court made a “one-sided order” based on an application filed by Hindu plaintiffs rather than the court-appointed Commissioner, who is supposed to be impartial in the case.
Mr. Yasin also claimed that the mosque’s caretakers were not given a copy of the opposing side’s application. Mr. Yasin said they were making arrangements for ablution in a restroom if the sealing of the wazu khana would disturb Muslims’ daily prayers at the mosque.
All parties are happy: DM
DM Kaushal Raj Sharma told the press following the court commission inspection that the procedures on the last day lasted two hours and fifteen minutes. “On May 17, the court will issue its next order.” Mr. Sharma declined to reveal any details regarding the inspection, claiming that the court was the only “custodian of the information.” Keshav Prasad Maurya, the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, took to Twitter to express his delight at the Hindu plaintiffs’ allegations about the discovery of a shivling.
“No matter how much you hide the truth, it will eventually come out because ‘truth is Shiv,'” Mr. Maurya remarked, using the hashtag “GyanvapiTruthNow.”
“The emergence of Baba Mahadev at Gyanvapi on the occasion of Buddha Purnima has given a mythological message to the country’s timeless Sanatan Hindu culture,” Mr. Maurya remarked.
Videography permission for Gyanvapi Mosque
Last Thursday, the court approved videography within the Gyanvapi Mosque grounds by an Advocate Commissioner in response to a petition filed by five Hindu plaintiffs seeking daily access to pray at the Hindu shrine Maa Shringar Gauri, which they claim is located outside the mosque’s western wall.
The court also denied the mosque committee’s request to replace Advocate Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra, as well as their opposition to the commission’s proceedings being held inside the mosque. The mosque committee claimed he was “prejudiced” in favor of the Hindu plaintiffs, but the court dismissed their claim.
Judge Diwakar appointed the Court Commissioner after five women plaintiffs linked to the right-wing group Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh filed a suit last April declaring that they were entitled to daily darshan, pooja, and the performance of all rituals of Maa Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesh, Lord Hanuman, and other “visible and invisible deities within old temple complex” located at settlement Plot No. 9130.