India: Hindu Prayers Begin Inside Historic Mosque After Court Order
The mosque is claimed by some Hindus to be the site of an ancient temple and a holy structure for their faith.
On Wednesday, a district court in Varanasi allowed Hindus to worship in the basement of the mosque, where a religious icon of Lord Shiva was allegedly found.
The court ordered the local administration to make arrangements for the prayers within a week. The Muslim side, however, challenged the court order and filed a revision petition in the Allahabad High Court, seeking a stay on the decision, according to Wion News.
The Muslim party had earlier approached the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing, but was directed to the Allahabad High Court.
The court order was based on a report by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which conducted a survey of the site last month and claimed that it found evidence of a Hindu temple under the mosque.
The report claimed that that the original structure was demolished and parts of it were used in the construction of the existing mosque.
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The Gyanvapi Mosque is one of the thousands of mosques that have been targeted by Hindu nationalists, who seek to reclaim the sites they believe were built over ancient temples during the Mughal rule.
The most prominent case was the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, which was demolished by a Hindu mob in 1992, sparking riots that killed more than 2,000 people. In 2019, the Supreme Court awarded the disputed site to the Hindus, paving the way for the construction of a Ram temple, which was inaugurated last month.
The Gyanvapi Mosque case has raised concerns over the fate of other Muslim places of worship in India, as well as the potential for communal violence and unrest.
The mosque is located in Varanas, a stronghold of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has championed the cause of Hindu revivalism and nationalism.
Source: Agencies
