In what has gotten tongues wagging in the region, a court in India’s northern town of Varanasi has rejected a Muslim organisation’s plea challenging a request by some Hindu worshippers to hold daily prayers at a 17th-century mosque.
It could be recalled that a group of Hindu women had moved the court earlier this year, seeking its permission to pray at a shrine inside the Gyanvapi Mosque.
According to reports, the mosque believed to be built during the Mughal rule is adjacent to Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath temple in the northern Uttar Pradesh state.
The court rejected the plea filed by Anjuman Intezamia Committee, the Muslim body that had challenged the women’s petition, stating that the request by the women was “maintainable”.
The court said “The plaintiffs are only demanding right to worship… The suits of the plaintiffs is limited and confined to right of worship as a civil right and fundamental right as well as customary and religious right”.
Reports have it that the Muslim body had argued the 1991 Places of Worship Act upholds the status of all religious structures as they stood on India’s independence from British rule on August 15, 1947, thus protecting the status quo of religious structures.
However, Hindu groups claimed that the mosque was built in 1669 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb after the demolition of a Hindu temple at the site. The petitioners say the complex still houses Hindu idols and motifs, a claim that has been contested by the mosque’s authorities.
Speaking with newsmen, a representative of the mosque’s management committee, Syed Muhammad Yaseen said Muslims had been praying in the mosque for centuries. In his words, the committee will challenge the Varanasi court’s order in a higher court in Allahabad city, renamed to Prayagraj in 2019.
He said “We follow the legal process and now we are thinking to move to Allahabad High Court. We will continue the legal battle”.
The next hearing in the case will be held on September 22.
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