All you need to know about the Gyanvapi Masjid-Kashi Vishwanath Temple Dispute
The Gyanvapi Mosque, located in the ancient city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, is a Mughal-era mosque built by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 16th century on the ruins of the Vishweshwar temple, a grand Hindu shrine devoted to the Hindu deity Shiva.
This site fell victim to the intense religious zealotry of both Muslim and Hindu rulers; over the centuries demolished and rebuilt several times only to be left in its current state; a partially demolished temple and a mosque almost in an embrace, in a way that it is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. This hybrid religious heritage has been for a long time a bone of contention between the two communities and now this is again gaining momentum.
Gyanvapi Dispute reaches the legal hallway, 1991–1998
The first legal petition regarding the Gyanvapi mosque was filed by a group of priests in 1991 in the Varanasi district court. They demanded the restoration of the ancient temple at the site where currently the Gyanvapi mosque is standing. The Gyanvapi mosque Management Committee challenged it by jogging their memories that any such action is a violation of Act 1991.
The matter reaches the Allahabad High Court in 1998 which stayed the proceedings and the matter lost its momentum until the 2019 Ayodhya verdict with which the Act 1991 came back into the spotlight. Perhaps the situation was de-escalated back in the 90s because of the presence of Act 1991 but the real challenge is whether would it be able to do the same in 2022 or not.
Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991.
The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act was brought by the Congress government, passed by the parliament, and enacted into law in 1991. It was during the peak of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and this bill was to put an end to any future controversy arising out of the ownership and character of any place of worship across the country. Maintaining the status quo of 1947 of all places of worship. The Home Minister S B Chavan While introducing the bill in Parliament said that:
“It is considered necessary to adopt these measures in view of the controversies arising from time to time with regard to conversion of places of worship which tend to vitiate the communal atmosphere… Adoption of this Bill will effectively prevent any new controversies from arising in respect of conversion of any place of worship…”
Section 3 of the Act states that:
“No person shall convert any place of worship of any religious denomination or any section thereof into a place of worship of a different section of the same religious denomination or of a different religious denomination or any section thereof”
Section 4(1) of the Act states:
“The religious character of a place of worship existing on the 15th day of august , 1947 shall continue to be the same as it existed on that day.”
Section 4(2) of the Act further states that:
“Any suit, appeal or other proceeding with respect to the conversion of the religious character of any place of worship, existing on the 15th day of August, 1947, is pending before any court, tribunal or other authority, the same shall abate, and no suit, appeal or other proceeding with respect to any such matter shall lie on or after such commencement in any court, tribunal or other authority”
However, Section 5 of the Act state specifically exempted the Babri Masjid case from this Act.
The Bill faced strong opposition from the BJP in Parliament. While referring to the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple- dispute, Uma Bharti who was among the leaders of the 1980s and 1990s Ram Janmabhoomi movement had then asked:
“Was not the intention of Aurangzeb behind leaving remnants of the temple at the site of mosque, to keep reminding Hindus of their historical fate and to remind coming generations of Muslims of their past glory and power?”
However, BJP welcomed the Ayodhya exception and requested to extend it to the other two sites which was never granted, and with a victorious start, with the Babri Masjid's demolition, the eyes are now on Varanasi and the Krishna Janmasthan-Shahi Idgah Masjid complex in Mathura. The trio of sites has a religious significance for the Hindu religion, and Hindu right-wing activists have pledged to liberate it from Muslim dominance. But they won’t stop at Mathura either.
‘Ayodhya toh bas jhaanki hai, Kashi, Mathura baaki hai’ — Ayodhya is just the beginning, Kashi and Mathura remain. (The slogan arose during 1992 riots)
Talking to the BBC, a retired justice of India’s Supreme Court Madan Lokur while giving his remarks regarding the Varanasi dispute said:
“This campaign [in Varanasi] is just the beginning of a series of demands in respect to other places of worship on which there are [Hindu] claims.”
This is a never-ending obsession, they had already expanded their operations against all the major Muslim historical landmarks, including the Taj Mahal in Agra, and Qutub Minar in New Delhi and now they want to dig and check whether there is a temple buried beneath any of these Islamic structures or not, or simply for a sole purpose of destroying whatever is created by or belongs to Muslims.
Petition for archaeological assessment of the mosque, 2019-2021
It was barely a month after the Ayodhya verdict in 2019 the Hindu outfits rolled up their sleeves and a fresh petition was filed at a Varanasi Civil Court seeking an archaeological assessment of the Gyanvapi mosque’s origins. The matter faced setbacks as the Allahabad High Court stayed the survey only to be resurfaced with another petition filed by five Hindu women at a Varanasi Civil Court, seeking permission to worship the idols of the deities allegedly located within the Gyanvapi mosque. The Varanasi court ordered the conduct of a survey to determine the existence of Hindu idols. This was opposed by the Gyanvapi mosque management committee and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board and amid the communally charged protesters and tight security, the three-day survey was finally concluded.
The survey report is yet to be officially released but the confidential information of the survey is leaked to the media which is claiming the presence of many symbols belonging to the Hindu religion and also the alleged Shivling (an abstract or representation of the Hindu god Shiva) has been found which as per claimed by the Muslim side is just a fountain in the ablution water tank.
The mosque management committee challenged the videography survey and termed it as a ‘clear violation of The Places of Worship Act, 1991. Appeal for a stay was denied by the Supreme Court suggesting that though the conversion of religious sites is out of the question as per the Act 1991, nothing can be done to stop investigating the nature of a place of worship which is not the same as altering it.
“We have dealt with the provisions in our Ayodhya verdict. The ascertainment of the religious character of the place of worship is not expressly barred.” (Supreme Court’s bench May 2022)
Huzefa Ahmadi who was representing the mosque committee argued that this matter will not stop with ‘just finding out”.
“After we ensured a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, we owe it to the people to liberate Lord Shiva in Kashi Vishwanath Dham from the Gyanvapi mosque and then the Krishna Janmabhoomi from the Eidgah in Mathura. This is our commitment to the people,” said a BJP leader on condition of anonymity.
If the Supreme Court bothered to brush up on its knowledge of the history of communal violence over similar issues then, a peek at the outrageous acts during the Babri masjid riots is sufficient to tell what is coming next.
Varanasi Civil Court ordered to seal and protect the area within the mosque where a shiv lingam had allegedly been found. The Supreme Court also ordered to protect shiv lingam however, Muslim devotees will be allowed to offer namaz to balance out the situation. But these court measures seem insufficient to diffuse these crises as both sides are here to settle past scores and are in no mood to give up easily.
RSS leader Indresh Kumar said:
“Truth about Gyanvapi mosque, and all other disputed places in the country should come out before the people. Common people feel that the more truth about these places comes out the more it will help the country get a right direction. It is not out of any grudge against anyone or due to some politics.”
On the other hand AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi in a video message stated:
“Muslims are not prepared to lose “another mosque” after Babri Masjid.We know your tactics and we will not allow you to sting again.” (Referening to right-wing Hindu outfits.)
The world had witnessed these similar confrontations decades ago, what was meant to be a symbol of pride harmony, and co-existence again for Hindutva turns out to be a symbol of slavery and injustices. With all that is going on both inside and outside the court, one can only hope that the matter settles differently this time. BJP and RSS notorious for their violent tactics decorated with all kinds of communal violence against Muslims are making it clear how far they can go for their vindictive agendas. This is not just a matter of reclaiming the temple but demonizing Muslims to solidify their claims of being the victims of their cruelty and Muslims must act carefully.
