The Allahabad High Court has dismissed five petitions that challenged the validity of a civil suit seeking the restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque stands in Varanasi. The petitions, filed by the Sunni Central Waqf Board and the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, had also opposed a lower court's order to conduct a comprehensive survey of the mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The ASI submitted its sealed report to the Varanasi court on Monday, after a 92-day scientific survey of the mosque complex. The report is expected to reveal the origin and history of the mosque and its possible connection to a pre-existing Hindu temple. The Hindu side plaintiff claims that the mosque is a part of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, which was demolished by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century.
The Varanasi court had ordered the ASI survey on July 21, following a petition by four women who sought permission to pray at the Shringar Gauri Shrine, which is behind the western wall of the mosque. The Supreme Court had refused to stay the survey, except for the 'wuzukhana' area, which has been sealed by its orders. The ASI had assured the court that no excavation would take place at the site and that the structure would be preserved.
The Varanasi court has scheduled the next hearing for December 21, where the fate of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque dispute will likely take a decisive turn. The dispute is one of the oldest and most sensitive religious conflicts in the country, along with the Ayodhya and Mathura cases.
