Hindu petitioners had sought scientific investigation at the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
Lucknow:
The demand by Hindu petitioners for carbon dating to determine the age of a purported ‘Shivling’ found in Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque complex was rejected today by the city’s senior most judge.
Following are the 10 biggest developments in this story:
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The ‘Shivling’ or relic of Lord Shiva was found earlier this year during a video survey carried out in the Gyanvapi mosque complex on the orders of a lower court in response to a petition by five Hindu women requesting year-long access to pray at a shrine inside the mosque complex. That case is still being heard.
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A Varanasi court said any survey like a carbon dating will be a violation of a Supreme Court order sealing the spot of the “Shivling” inside the mosque, according to a lawyer. The court also said any harm to the structure will be in violation of the orders of the Supreme Court, which had asked for the “Shivling” to be protected.
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Any harm to the “Shivling” will also hurt religious sentiments and lessen the chances of a legal resolution of the dispute, the court said.
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Last month, four of the five Hindu petitioners had requested a scientific investigation, including carbon dating, to establish the age of the “Shivling”. The women claim that ancient idols of Hindu gods and goddesses are located inside the mosque.
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The mosque committee objected to such an investigation, arguing that the case was about worshipping at a shrine inside the mosque and had nothing to do with its structure. The object being called a “Shivling” is actually a “fountain” for purification rituals by Muslims before prayers, they argued.
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Last week, the court asked if the “Shivling” can be made a part of the case and whether a scientific investigation can actually be ordered. Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu women, told NDTV: “We said two things – that in our prayer we asked for rights to pray before visible and invisible deities inside the mosque complex. The Shivling was earlier covered by water and when the water was removed it became a visible deity and so it is part of the suit,” Mr Jain told NDTV.
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On September 12, the Varanasi district judge dismissed a challenge by the mosque committee that argued that the case by the Hindu women has no legal standing.
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Their challenge was rejected on all three counts they cited. The most important of these is the 1991 law, which freezes the status of a place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947. The petitioners don’t want ownership, just the right to worship, the court ruled.
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Earlier this year, a lower court in Varanasi ordered the filming of the centuries-old mosque based on the women’s petition. The videography report, controversially leaked by the petitioners, claimed a “Shivling” was found in a pond used for “Wazoo” or the mandatory purification rituals before Muslim prayers.
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The Gyanvapi mosque, located in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is on the list of mosques that Hindu hardliners believe were built on the ruins of temples. It was one of the three temple-mosque rows, besides Ayodhya and Mathura, which the BJP raised in the 1980s and 90.
