The CRPF was deployed at the Gyanvapi Mosque premises in Varanasi following a court order. The Uttar Pradesh administration sealed the basement, Ojukhana, and surrounding areas.
The survey team submitted a report to the Varanasi court on Monday after thoroughly surveying and videotaping the two domes, underground parts, and ponds inside the mosque since Saturday. After that, the court sealed several areas and ordered the deployment of CRPF. City-Sessions Court Judge Rabikumar Divakar directed the Varanasi District Magistrate, Commissioner of Police as well as a CRPF Commandant (Super) level officer to ensure security.
Harishankar Jain, a lawyer for the petitioning Hindutva party, said on Monday that the court had taken this step because of the existence of a Shivling in the Ojukhana pond. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday said that the hearing of the petition filed in Gyanvapi seeking a ban on survey and videography would be held on Tuesday.
Incidentally, the Hindutvaists claim that the land on which the Gyanvapi Mosque was built belongs to the Hindus. So let that land be returned to the Hindus. Mughal emperor Aurangzeb demolished part of the 2,000-year-old Kashi Bishwanath temple and built a mosque there, demanding an archeological survey to find “impressions of Hinduism”.
On the other hand, five women filed a separate petition in the court in 2021 seeking permission to worship ‘Idols of gods and goddesses on the premises of Gyanvapi Mosque. On Thursday, the Varanasi district court directed the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct an archeological survey of the Gyanbapi mosque. An appeal was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the verdict. But it was rejected.
Read More: Gyanvapi Row: Hindu side claim ‘Shivling’ found inside the mosque
