Mumbai: Following claims of a Shivling being found in Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Mosque complex were reported, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) termed it as “unfair”.
The court ordered a videography survey of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Masjid complex in Varanasi, which concluded on Monday, the third day in the case of Hindu petitioner Sohan Lal Arya, who claimed that the committee had found a Shivling on the premises. Also Read: Seal Area Where Shivling Found In Gyanvapi Mosque: Varanasi Court
Arya, who accompanied the court commission to survey the mosque, said they had found “conclusive evidence”.
In a statement issued by AIMPLB on Monday, Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, general secretary of the board, said, “Gyanvapi Masjid is a mosque and will remain a mosque. The attempt to declare it a temple is nothing more than a conspiracy to create communal disharmony. It is a matter of constitutional rights and is against the law.”
He further said, “In 1937, in the case of Din Mohamed v. Secretary of State, the court had decided on the basis of oral testimony and documents that this entire compound (Gyanvapi mosque complex) belongs to the Muslim Waqf and Muslims have the right to offer namaz in it,” he said.
Rahmani said, “The court had also decided how much of the disputed land is a mosque and how much is a temple. It was also decided that Vazukhana will remain Vazukhana.”
The AIMPLB general secretary said, “The 1991 Places of Worship Act was passed by Parliament, which summarizes that whatever place of worship has been established in 1947 will be kept intact.”
During the court-mandated videography survey, the lawyer representing the Hindu side claimed that the Shivling was found near the ” wazookhana ” – a small reservoir used by Muslim devotees to perform rituals before worship.
“It was the third day of the survey. A stone was found there. We are claiming it to be Shivling. It is around 3 feet tall. It was at the spot where Muslims performed wuzu. They had claimed it to be a fountain but after cleaning it was found to be Shivling,” lawyer Deepak Singh told ANI.
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