A district court in Varanasi will on Monday deliver its verdict on whether a civil suit by Hindu plaintiffs seeking the right to pray inside the Gyanvapi mosque premises is maintainable.

Five Hindu women have claimed that an image of the Hindu deity Shringar Gauri exists at the mosque and sought permission to offer daily prayers there.

On August 24, District Judge AK Vishvesha had reserved his order on the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s application challenging the maintainability of the civil suit.

The committee has filed the application under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure. According to the order, a petition can be dismissed if it does not show a cause of action or is barred by law.

Ahead of the court verdict on Monday, prohibitory orders have been imposed and security has been tightened in Varanasi, PTI reported.

Visuals by ANI showed security personnel standing outside the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is located next to the mosque. Varanasis Assistant Commissioner Santosh Kumar Singh said that more than 2,000 officers have been deployed to maintain law and order.

Police Commissioner A Satish Ganesh said that officers have been directed to interact with religious leaders to ensure that peace is maintained. The whole city has been divided into sectors, which have been allocated police force according to their requirement.

Authorities have increased checking in the district’s border areas, hotels and guest houses, and are also keeping an eye on social media, the police chief said.

The petitioners before the district court have argued that the plea filed by the Hindu side is not maintainable as it violates the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits changing the status quo of religious sites.

In May, a Varanasi civil court had ordered a video survey of the Gyanvapi mosque despite objections expressed by Muslim litigants. The mosque committee had then moved the Supreme Court, challenging the trial court’s order to conduct the survey.

The survey report stated that an oval object had been found inside a tank at the mosque. Hindu petitioners claimed the object is a shivling, a symbolic representation of the Hindu deity Shiva. Muslims, however, say that it is actually a fountain.

On May 16, the civil court ordered district officials to seal the wazu khana, or ablution tank, in the mosque. The court had passed the order even before receiving the report of the survey.

A day later, the Supreme Court directed officials to protect the spot where the oval object was found. It also said that Muslims should not be barred from offering prayers at the mosque.

Also read:

  1. Behind Gyanvapi’s women petitioners, a network of men who have long fought for Hindutva causes
  2. Why many Varanasi residents are unimpressed by the furore around the Gyanvapi mosque
  3. Why many Varanasi residents are unimpressed by the furore around the Gyanvapi mosque

Hindu petitioners seek carbon-dating of shivling

Meanwhile, the Hindu petitioners have said that if the court verdict is in their favour, they will ask for Archaeological Survey of India scrutiny and carbon dating of the shivling, ANI reported.

Advocate Sohan Lal Arya, representing the Hindu petitioners, said that after the verdict people of Kashi will celebrate by ringing bells and clapping. “The people of Kashi will work to awaken the Hindu society,” he added.