Gyanvapi Masjid Committee petitions Allahabad High Court to stop Hindus from performing pujas.

By – Shubhendra Singh Rajawat

The Muslim side said that in an attempt to deny them access to any redress, the administration had opened the “Vyas Tehkana” in the dead of night.

According to Livelaw, the Varanasi district court’s ruling permitting Hindus to conduct puja in “Vyas Tehkana,” or the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi building, has been challenged by the Gyanvapi masjid committee at the Allahabad high court. For the first time in thirty-one years, prayers were offered during midnight within hours of the directive. The Muslim side announced on Wednesday that they would file an appeal with the Allahabad high court, claiming that important aspects of the Varanasi district court’s judgment were missed. The Muslim side claimed that the Hindu side had shown no proof that prayers had been held prior to 1993, despite the Advocate Commissioner report from 2022, the ASI report, and the 1937 ruling all being in favor of the Muslim side.

Puja opens at the Vyas Tahkhana of Gyanvapi mosque: Here are the top updates.

1. On Thursday, lawyers representing the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee petitioned the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing. The Supreme Court registrar informed them that the CJI had directed them to approach the high court.
2. “There is no reason for the administration to rush through this duty in the middle of the night, considering that the Trial Court’s ruling gave them one week to make the required arrangements. The evident explanation for such unseemly haste is that the administration, in cooperation with the plaintiffs, is attempting to prevent the Mosque Managing Committee from seeking remedies against the aforementioned order by presenting them with a fait accompli,” the Muslim side stated.
3. In a historic decision, the Varanasi court on Wednesday authorized Hindu worshipers to pray in the ‘Vyas Ka Tekhana’ part of the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
4. The court has instructed the district administration to make the required provisions within the next seven days.
5. After 31 years, the tahkhana was reopened at night and prayers were held.
6. The mosque has four ‘tahkhanas’ (cellars) in its basement. Vyas Tahkhana appears to have belonged to the Vyas family.
7. After cleaning the cellar, neighbors reported that a ‘aarti’ of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh was done.