AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said the court’s recent order on surveying certain areas of the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex is “opening the way for the bloodshed of Rath Yatras and the anti-Muslim violence of the 1980s-1990s”. Condemning the Varanasi court order, Asaduddin Owaisi said in a tweet, “This order to survey the Gyanvapi Masjid of Kashi is a clear violation of the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which prohibits conversion of religious places.”
Asaduddin Owaisi said, “The Supreme Court in the Ayodhya judgment had held that the Act protects the secular features of Indian polity which is one of the basic features of the Constitution.” Asaduddin Owaisi’s statement came a day after a commissioner of the court surveyed and videographed the premises at Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Gyanvapi Masjid as per the court order.
This order to survey Kashi’s Gyanvapi Masjid* is open violation of 1991 Places of Worship Act, which prohibits conversion of religious places. SC in Ayodhya judgement had said the Act protects “secular features of Indian polity which is 1 of basic features of Constitution”1/2 https://t.co/ed5yyS9ieL
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) May 7, 2022
Gyanvapi Masjid case
Delhi-based Rakhi Singh, Lakshmi Devi, Sita Sahu and others had filed a petition seeking permission to perform daily pujas and rituals at Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesha, Lord Hanuman and Nandi located on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque. He had moved the court with his petition on April 18, 2021.
After hearing the petition, the court of Varanasi Civil Judge (Senior Division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar ordered videography of Shringar Gauri temple at Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi mosque complex and other places after Eid and before May 10. Let us tell you that on May 6 and May 7, videography and survey was going to be done inside the premises of the mosque.
Survey of each brick of Shringar Gauri temple structure
At three o’clock on Friday afternoon, there was a stir around the Gyanvapi Masjid located in the Kashi Vishwanath Dham complex when both the parties led by the Court Commissioner and their advocates reached the west of the mosque, entering through the main entrance of the Dham (Gate No. 4). . The four directions of Gyanvapi were transformed into police camps. The entry of devotees from the main gate was closed. Dr. Sunil Kumar Verma, chief executive of Vishwanath temple already present and ADM City Gulab Chandra, who arrived as DM’s representative, started the survey. The court commissioner started the survey with two fellow advocates, which continued for almost three hours. There was a lot of commotion outside the gate during the commissioning proceedings. There was a gathering of people from both the sides.
lit torch to see inside the tree
In the first phase, the court commissioner investigated the condition of Shringar Gauri and the surrounding platform. Videography was done from every brick to clay and stone. More than 70 photographs were taken within a radius of 40 feet. The court commissioner saw the situation by lighting a torch inside the table of Shringar Gauri. Feeling the color in the stick by touching it with your hand. The carvings of the west wall of the mosque were carefully videographed. Also saw the joint part of the dome and the back wall. During the survey, the court commissioner along with fellow advocates also wrote a report of facts and status in between. The survey went on continuously for about three hours.
protest against going inside the court commissioner
In the Gyanvapi episode, Abhaynath Yadav, advocate of the opposition Anjuman Masjid Arrangement Committee, said that we are not satisfied with the action of the court commissioner. Will apply to change them in court. He alleged that the court commissioner was scraping each and every object with his finger, while the court has no order to scrape or dig anything. So I am not satisfied with this action. The lawyer said that after surveying the platform of Shringar Gauri, the court commissioner tried to go inside by opening the entrance of Gyanvapi Masjid. We lodged a protest against this. The lawyer said, there is no such order of the court that you should do videography inside the barricading, but the lawyer commissioner said that I have an order to get the lock opened and videography done inside.
There was a stir as soon as the justices arrived
During the survey, there was a stir among the advocates present on the spot as soon as the entrance of the Dham opened for Supreme Court Judge DY Chandrachud and Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Rajesh Bindal at around 3.30 pm. Administrative and police officers left the chair and stood. Other advocates, including the court commissioner, stopped the survey for a few moments. After giving a symbolic greeting, he started the survey. In the end the temple administration gave prasad to everyone.
The Shringar Gauri case first reached the court in 1995.
For the first time in the year 1995, the matter reached the court for the survey of Shringar Gauri case. Dr. Sohanlal Arya, resident of Surajkund in Laksa had requested the court to appoint a court commissioner and conduct a survey. In the year 1996, the court appointed the court commissioner and ordered to take action of the commission. Dr. Sohanlal says that the court commissioner gave notice to both the parties and called for survey on 18th May 1996. During the survey, a large number of people who came on behalf of the opposition started protesting. Because of this the survey could not be completed. Even then it was the day of Juma and the prayers of the worshipers had gathered. After this, Rakhi Singh, Laxmi Devi, Manju Vyas, Sita Sahu, Rekha Pathak of Delhi jointly filed a petition in the court of Civil Judge Senior Division Ravi Kumar Diwakar on 18 August 2021. Dr. Sohanlal is an advocate in this case. Laxmi Devi included in the plaintiff is his wife. On April 8, 2022, the court appointed the court commissioner. The court commissioner informed the court to conduct the survey on April 19.
On April 18, the administration filed an objection through a government advocate and demanded a ban on videography and photography. On April 19, the opposition Anjuman Inazaniya Masajid Committee also filed a petition in the High Court requesting to stop it. The High Court dismissed the petition and upheld the order of the lower court. On April 20, the trial court also completed the hearing. On 26 April, the trial court ordered the survey proceedings after Eid. Under the order, the court commissioner has started the survey on Friday. The plaintiff has made Vishwanath Temple Trust, DM, Commissioner of Police, Anjuman Inazaniya Masajid Committee and Central Sunni Waqf Board as parties.