SC on Gyanvapi: Protect Shivling, but don't stop Muslims from namaz

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (May 17) asked the Varanasi district magistrate to share the exact location of the ‘Shivling’ (symbol of Shiva), which was claimed to have been found during video documentation of the Gyanvapi mosque the other day.

In a recent development, the mosque committee approached the apex court seeking directives to the Varanasi district administration to stop the survey of the mosque complex.

When Justice DY Chandrachud asked: “Where exactly was the Shivling found?” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Uttar Pradesh government, said: “We haven’t seen the report. Please give us time till tomorrow to return with details.”

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Mehta said the place where the Shivling was found was sealed to avoid law and order issues in case devotees coming to offer namaz (prayers) touched it with their feet.

In response, the SC told the Varanasi District Magistrate to make sure the area where the Shivling was found was protected while allowing Muslims coming to the mosque for namaz.

The Shivling or relic of Shiva was allegedly found on the last day of the court-mandated filming of the mosque complex. This filming was done after a petition was filed seeking access to pray at a shrine behind the mosque.

The lawyer, Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi, representing the group of Hindu women who are fighting to gain access to the shrine, told the media that the Shivling was found after water was drained from the pond.

The petitioners had requested a local Varanasi court to close off the pond after this discovery of the Shivling. The pond is used for the Islamic ‘Wuzu’ or purification rituals. The court accepted the plea and ordered the Varanasi district magistrate to ensure that the pond is not used, for now.

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Muslim petitioners rejected the claim, saying it was a fountain and not a Shivling. In the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the Muslim petitioners challenged the Varanasi court’s order sealing the place at a time when the report of the committee surveying the complex had not been submitted.

Meanwhile, the local court in Varanasi court Tuesday removed advocate-Commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra, who was accused of bias by the mosque committee. Mishra was given the responsibility of filming and carrying out the survey of the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex. The court also gave two more for the submission of the committee’s survey report.