'Gyanvapi Complex Was Always A Temple': Hindu Women Petitioners Welcome Allahabad HC Verdict

The Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed the Gyanvapi mosque management committee’s appeals challenging the Varanasi district judge’s orders appointing the district magistrate as the receiver of the “Vyas Tehkhana” southern cellar of the mosque) and allowing “puja” to be performed there.

Sita Sahu and Manju Vyas– two of the five women at the centre of the Gyanvapi petition welcomed the court’s verdict asserting that there is ample evidence to prove that a temple existed on the mosque premises.

“It (Gyanvapi complex) was always a temple and we are sure we will win,” said Vyas.

Sahu and Vyas, along with Laxmi Devi, Rekha Pathak and Rakhi Singh filed a petition in Varanasi court in August 2021 seeking daily worship rights at the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal within the contentious Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex.

Vyas asserted that till 1993, Hindu prayers were being performed inside the mosque premises. “Then why was it stopped?” she asked.

“We will continue to fight… We have unlimited evidence… We know there is a Trishul and idols then what more do we need,” she added.

Agreeing with Vyas, Sahu stressed that “truth is out and no one cannot deny that it (Gyanvapi complex) is a temple”

“We are ready to fight further,” she added.

Rejecting the petition filed by the Muslim side, the Allahabad High Court said worship in the “Vyas Tehkhana” will continue.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday rejected the plea filed by the Muslim side challenging the Varanasi court order allowing Hindu parties to offer prayers and puja in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi Mosque.

The said order was passed amid an ongoing civil court case involving conflicting claims over the religious character of the Gyanvapi compound.

Among other claims, the Hindu side has said that Hindu prayers were earlier offered by the family of one Somnath Vyas in the mosque’s cellar until 1993, when the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government allegedly stopped it.

The Muslim side has opposed this claim and maintained that Muslims have always had possession over the mosque’s building.

The main dispute over the Gyanvapi compound involves a claim by the Hindu side that a section of an ancient temple on the said land was destroyed during the rule of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century.

The Muslim side has maintained that the mosque predated Aurangzeb’s reign and that it had endured various alterations over time.