Days after Shivling was found inside the disputed Gyanvapi structure in Varanasi, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Tuesday held an urgent meeting of its executive committee and decided to provide legal assistance to the management of the mosque.
According to the reports, the legal team of the country’s most influential Islamic organisation – AIMPLB, has announced that they would extend all the necessary assistance to the Muslim side. The meeting was held virtually on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing developments around the disputed structure of Gyanvapi.
Following the meeting, the AIMPLB announced that they would provide expert legal advice to the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the affairs of the disputed Gyanvapi mosque structure.
“We will go through the matters discussed and presented in the court on Tuesday, and our legal team will provide help to the Muslim side. But, at the same time, we will try to reach out to the people with facts through pamphlets, books etc., so that people don’t get misguided,” an AIMPLB source said.
The AIMPLB also added that they would like to know the stand of the Central government and other political parties on the Places of Worship Act, 1991.
The AIMPLB further condemned the sealing of the ‘wuzukhana’ inside the disputed structure Gyanvapi mosque complex and contended that the “masjid would continue to remain a mosque till the end.
AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said that the Gyanvapi is a mosque and will remain a mosque. He added that the attempt to transform it into a temple is nothing more than a conspiracy to spread hate by communal forces. This statement, calling the reclamation of a Hindu temple as “communal” came even as the Muslim side argued in the Supreme Court that continuing to wash their dirty hands and feet in the well where the Shivling was found was their religious rite. A demand denied by the SC.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court directed the Varanasi administration to seal the area where the Shivling was found during the video survey inside the disputed structure Gyanvapi mosque, where the original Kashi Vishwanath temple once stood. The apex court also directed the authorities not to restrict any Muslims entering the mosque to offer namaz or religious observances.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and PS Narasimha said, “The area where the Shivling is found should be protected.” The top court has listed the matter for further hearing on May 19.
Hindu petitioners urge the court to access the disputed structure
Earlier on Tuesday, Hindus petitioners urged the Varanasi court to grant them access to an eastern door that leads to the Shivling found inside the disputed Gyanvapi structure during a videography survey on May 16.
The petitioners had filed a plea in the Varanasi court, which eventually led to the court ordering a videography survey of the disputed Gyanvapi Mosque structure. It was on the third day of this survey when a Shivling was discovered inside the wuzukhana in the disputed Gyanvapi structure.
After the discovery, the Hindu side’s lawyers argued before the court that there is a door from the east that leads to the Shivling just below the wuzukhana, but it is blocked by debris. The lawyers contended that the court must allow them entry to the room that provides access to the Shivling.
Vishnu Jain, one of the lawyers representing the Hindu petitioners, said, “we haven’t been able to reach the room as the passage has been filled with debris. Hence, we are also demanding that the wall in front of the Nandi idol facing the Shivling be removed.”
