2024-04-02 17:14:21
Varanasi: The Muslim side has also received a setback from the Supreme Court in the matter of worshiping in the Vyasji basement of Gyanvapi Mosque. On Monday, CJI DY Chandrachud said that the entry of Gyanvapi basement is from the south while that of the mosque is from the north. Both do not affect each other. At present both puja and namaz continued at their respective places. The CJI gave this decision during the hearing of the petition filed by the Anjuman Arrangements Mosque Committee.
The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust and sought its reply. The Mosque Committee has filed a petition against the decision of the Allahabad High Court. In this, the High Court had upheld the decision of the Varanasi Court, in which the Hindu side was allowed to worship in the southern basement of the Gyanvapi Mosque. A bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud had asked the Anjuman Arrangements Masjid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi Mosque. Heard the special leave petition of. The bench asked whether there is only one way to go to the basement and the mosque? On this, Muslim side’s lawyer Ahmadi said that the basement is in the south and the way to the mosque is in the north. On this, the bench said that the routes for going to offer Namaz and for going to puja are different, so we believe that there will be no hindrance in both the methods of worship.
Allahabad High Court had rejected the petition
Earlier, on February 26, the Allahabad High Court had rejected the petition filed by the Muslim side against the district court order allowing worship in the southern basement of the Gyanvapi Masjid. The decision was given by a bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Aggarwal of the High Court amid an ongoing case in the civil court related to conflicting claims on the religious character of the Gyanvapi complex.
Know the claim of Hindu side
The Hindu side has said that till 1993, Somnath Vyas’s family used to worship in the basement of the mosque, but the then Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government had allegedly banned it. The Muslim side has opposed this claim and said that the mosque building has always been in the possession of Muslims. The main dispute over the Gyanvapi complex involves the Hindu side’s claim that there was an ancient temple on the land, part of which was destroyed during the rule of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century.
The order to worship came on 31 January
The Muslim side says that the mosque predates the reign of Aurangzeb and has undergone many changes over time. The Varanasi district court, in its order dated January 31, had allowed the priests to worship the idols in the southern basement of Gyanvapi. After this, a religious ceremony was organized in the mosque premises at midnight on 1 February. Later the southern basement was opened for devotees.
CM Yogi performed puja on 13th February
The Varanasi District Judge had directed the district administration to make proper arrangements within 7 days for the puja rituals inside one of the sealed cellars (‘Vyas ji ka tehkhana’) inside the existing Gyanvapi Masjid complex. On February 13, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath had also visited the Gyanvapi complex and worshiped in the basement of Vyas ji.