Gyanvapi: Hindu side claims ‘Shivling’ found
VARANASI: A local court on Monday ordered a section of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex sealed after lawyers representing Hindu petitioners claimed a “Shivling” was recovered during a controversial survey, marking a potential tipping point in the decades-old religious dispute.
The court’s orders came hours after Hindu petitioners claimed that surveyors recovered a “Shivling” from the bottom of a tank while conducting a court-ordered survey inside the Gyanvapi Masjid compound. Muslim petitioners, however, said that the object recovered was a fountain, and that the court passed its order without listening to their submissions. The diameter of the “Shivling” is about 12 feet.
“The petitioners’ plea said that on May 16, a Shivling was found inside the masjid complex. This is a very important piece of evidence… district magistrate, Varanasi is ordered to immediately seal the spot from where the Shivling was found and ban the entry of any person,” said the court’s order in Hindi.
The spot was sealed in the evening, said officials.
In its order, the court said the district magistrate, the Varanasi police commissioner and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandant will be responsible for the security of the sealed area. Director general of police DS Chauhan, UP chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra will be responsible for supervision of the steps taken by the local administration for the security of the sealed place, the court said. “The petitioners said the Shivling was found during the survey and hence, it is necessary to preserve it,” it said.
The Muslim petitioners said they were not heard before the order was passed and condemned Hindu parties for making disclosures before the survey’s results were officially declared. “We strictly followed the order by the court and fully cooperated in the survey... people associated with petitioners are making claims which suit them and leaking details of proceedings of the survey,” said SM Yasin, joint secretary of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC), which manages the Gyanvapi Masjid.
District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said the survey was completed peacefully but refused to confirm if a ‘Shivling’ was found from the premises. “The court commissioner said that the report will be presented in the court on May 17, and till then no one should disclose the findings. However, if anyone is disclosing it on his own, then its authenticity cannot be proved. Only the court is the custodian of this information,” he said.