Gyanvapi survey Allahabad HC stops ASI survey at Gyanvapi till final order on Aug 3
Varanasi/IBNS: The Allahabad High Court Thursday ruled that there will be no survey at Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque till August 3, when the final order on the matter will be given.
The court made the observation while hearing a plea challenging a district court's order for a survey.
The High Court reserved its order after long arguments over the need for a survey by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which has been a demand of the Hindu petitioners, who argue that the mosque stands on the remains of a temple.
"The ASI survey is necessary as Anjuman Masjid (Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the mosque) has said the structure in question (the temple) is based on imagination and has nothing to do with ground reality. They say the mosque was never in possession of anyone else except Muslims since its inception," said the lawyer for one of the petitioners.
"I have research work of Neil G, who worked from 1975 to 1990, and I have photos which show disputed structure," argued another petitioner.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the mosque, said the 1000-year-old structure might collapse if the ground below it is excavated.
On July 24, the Supreme Court had halted a "detailed scientific survey" by the ASI, which was ordered earlier by a Varanasi court till 5 pm on Wednesday.
Representing the mosque committee, senior advocate SFA Naqvi said, "They tried their level best to say that no digging is being done, but we have annexed photos where they have used spades. They reached there with these instruments".
The demand for a scientific survey gained mileage after a purported 'Shivling' was found during a video survey carried out in the Gyanvapi mosque complex on orders of a lower court.
The Hindu side has claimed that a temple built at the site in 1585 on the orders of Raja Todar Mal -- a minister of Emperor Akbar -- was demolished in 1669.
The mosque committee has objected to a scientific investigation, arguing that the case is about worshipping at a shrine inside the complex and has nothing to do with its structure. The object called a "Shivling" is actually a "fountain", they have contended.
The Gyanvapi mosque, located next to Varanasi's iconic Vishwanath temple, is one of the several mosques that Hindu hardliners believe were built on the ruins of temples.
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