Lagatar24 Desk
Lucknow, Sept 22: Days after declaring that a request by five Hindu women to pray all year long at a shrine within the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, near to the well-known Kashi Viswanath temple, is legally acceptable, the seniormost court in Varanasi will hear the Gyanvapi case today.
The Varanasi court stated in its ruling dated September 12 that the petitioners were not requesting to “transform” the mosque into a temple but rather a right to “worship” at the “disputed” property throughout the year.
A law passed in 1991 stipulates that places of worship may continue to operate in the same manner as on August 15, 1947. The exception was the Babri Masjid situation.
The judge rejected a challenge from Muslim petitioners, primarily the mosque managers, who wanted the petition dismissed because they believed it had no basis.
The Muslim petitioners have now submitted a request for 8 weeks of preparation time before the matter is considered further. The attorneys for the Hindu women claim they will request that the Archaeological Survey of India conduct a new survey of the mosque.
On the basis of the women’s plea, a lower court in Varanasi earlier this year ordered the filming of the centuries-old mosque.
