Hindustan Times (Lucknow)

Shivling measuremen­t plea to be heard today

Masjid committee to file objection

- Sudhir Kumar sudhir.kumar1@hindustant­imes.com

VARANASI : A court in Varanasi on Wednesday fixed May 19 (Thursday) as the next date of hearing on a plea by three Hindu women seeking advocate commission proceeding­s for measuremen­t of the height, width and length of the Shivling, which was claimed to be found in the Gyanvapi mosque complex area during videograph­y as part of the advocate commission’s proceeding­s on May 16.

Rekha Pathak, Manju Vyas and Sita Sahu are among the five petitioner­s who filed a case in August 2021, seeking permission for daily worship at Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal in the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi.

On behalf of the three women, advocate Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi filed the applicatio­n in the court of the civil judge (Senior Division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar on Tuesday.

“A ‘Shivling’ was found in the Gyanvapi mosque complex during survey proceeding­s on May 16. The area is sealed now, “said Chaturvedi in the petition.

Advocate commission proceeding­s (survey) of the area under the place, where the ‘Shivling’ was found in Gyanvapi mosque complex, should be done for measuremen­t of the width, length, and height of the ‘Shivling’ by demolishin­g the masonry wall in its east in front of Nandi Maharaj, the other one in the northern, said Chaturvedi.

He said the court was urged to order survey commission proceeding­s for measuring the height, width and length of the ‘Shivling’.

The court had directed Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, which manages Gyanvapi Mosque, a party in the case, to file an objection, if it has any. On Wednesday, the court fixed

May 19 as next date of hearing, said Chaturvedi.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee objected to the applicatio­n seeking commission proceeding­s for survey and measuremen­t of the ‘Shivling’.

Merajuddin Siddiqui, one of the advocates of the Masjid Committee, said, “We filed an applicatio­n in the court today (May 18) seeking two-day time to file objection against the plea seeking the commission proceeding of the place where the fountain is there in Gyanvapi mosque. The court granted one day for filing the objection. We will file objection on May 19.”

On Monday (May 16), one of the petitioner­s claimed that a ‘Shivling’ was found inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex. Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s lawyer Rais Ahmad Ansari called it a misleading claim and said the structure, which petitioner­s claimed to be a ‘Shivling’, was a fountain.

 ?? FILE PHOTO/REUTERS ?? Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi.
FILE PHOTO/REUTERS Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi.

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