Court allows Hindu plea for worship at Varanasi mosque
AN INDIAN court on Monday (12) agreed to hear a petition by a group of Hindu women for the right to worship in a mosque they believe was the site of a Hindu temple, rejecting a Muslim plea to throw out the petition.
The Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, a holy city for Hindus and prime minister Narendra Modi’s constituency, has become the latest potential flashpoint between Hidnu and Muslim groups.
A mosque committee had asked a Varanasi district judge in Uttar Pradesh to dismiss the plea from five Hindu women to allow them to worship and perform rituals for various “visible and invisible deities within the old temple complex”.
The committee had told the court the mosque was established about 600 years ago and remained a place of worship for Muslims ever since. Petitioners have said a Hindu temple predated the mosque at the site and an idol of a deity and relics were still there.
Judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesha said the Muslim side had failed to make the case for the plea’s dismissal and set the next hearing of the case for September 22, according to Shivam Goud, a lawyer for the Hindu petitioners.
A lawyer for the mosque committee was not immediately available for comment. The group previously said they could appeal the case to a higher court. Armed policemen patrolled the area outside the court before the verdict to prevent any unrest. Hindu petitioner Manju Vyas said after the verdict: “We are so happy, we have created history today.”