The Archaeological Survey of India has been directed by a court in Varanasi to conduct a physical survey of the town’s Gyanvapi Mosque, which is situated next to the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The UP Sunni Central Waqf Board has responded by stating that it would appeal the subordinate court’s decision to the Allahabad High Court.
The survey was directed by the court in response to a three-decade-old petition alleging that Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb demolished an ancient temple dedicated to “Lord Vishweshwar” and “constructed a mosque with the assistance of the said temple’s ruins.”
The court ordered the ASI Director-General to “constitute a five-member committee of eminent persons who are experts and well-versed in the science of archaeology, two of whom should ideally belong to the minority community,” according to the court’s order.
The court also requested that the ASI Chief nominate an eminent person as an observer for the committee, such as a scholar or a known academician.
“The primary goal of the Archaeological Survey shall be to determine if the religious structure currently stands at the ‘disputed site’ is a superimposition, modification, or extension, or if there is some structural duplication of some sort, with or over any other religious structure,” the court stated in its decision.
The committee “shall also trace whether any Hindu temple existed before the mosque in question was constructed, superimposed or extended upon it at the ‘disputed’ site,” according to the court.
The UP Sunni Central Waqf Board issued a statement shortly after the decision, stating that it will file a petition with the Allahabad High Court. “The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991, according to our view, precludes this event. A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the Places of Worship Act in the Ayodhya decision “According to Zufar Ahmad Farooqui, chairman of the Sunni Central Waqf Board.
As such, the status of Gyanvapi Masjid is unquestionable,” he said.
“Even so, we can argue that the survey order is doubtful, based on legal opinion, because technical data can only supplement those foundational facts.” “There has been no proof shown to the court that there was a former extant temple at the site of the mosque,” he said.
The case was first filed in 1991, but a group of Varanasi citizens said the mosque was constructed over an ancient temple by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1664.
