Muslim petitioners involved in the Gyanvapi mosque case said on Monday that they will consider approaching the Allahabad High Court with their request to throw out a plea by a group of Hindu women to pray at a site at the mosque complex, hours after a district court in Varanasi allowed the latter’s plea to proceed in a ruling that the Hindu side saw as a victory.
The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) said a committee of lawyers will study the district court’s judgment and accordingly challenge it in the high court.
“There is always an option to move the high court. Our team of lawyers will study the judgment first, especially the ground on which our plea was rejected, and then will move the high court,” Mohammed Touhid Khan, one of the counsels of AIMC in the case, said. Khan is also a part of the team that is formed to study the judgment.
Muslim cleric and senior All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali said the community respects the judgment of the district court and “the option to move the high court and the Supreme Court is open”.
'Varanasi district judge A K Vishvesh agreed to hear the petition filed by five Hindu women who sought permission to worship daily what they claim are idols of Hindu deities located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque. The court fixed September 22 as the next date of hearing in the case.
The court’s decision prompted Hindu outfits to celebrate.
Devotees at a Lord Hanuman temple at Bhartendu Park in Varanasi honoured the lawyers who are fighting the case. “They are fighting for us, and for this, they deserve felicitation,” Sudha Mishra, a local resident in Maidagin locality, said as he showered flower petals on the plaintiffs.
“It’s our tradition to seek blessings of the Almighty before any big day. Hence, we visited the temple in the morning,” Lakshmi Devi, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said.A heavy police deployment was in place and the forces carried out flag marches in order to preempt any tension ahead of the verdict. Following the ruing, there were celebrations in some pockets with locals playing the dhol (drums), distributing sweets and bursting firecrackers.
The Ganga Seva Samiti (GSS), the body that looks after the famous Ganga Aarti at Assi Ghat, held a special prayer session.
Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Union ministers, also welcomed the order, with the party’s national secretary Y Satya Kumar terming it a “triumph of the truth”.
“Kashi and Mathura are identities of our Sanatan culture. We respect the court order and appeal for peace from all sides,” Union minister Giriraj Singh said.
Union minister Anurag Thakur also welcomed the court order. “But everyone needs to be quiet now and let the courts do their work,” he told reporters.
All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) president and social activist Shaista Ambar said: “In the light of the Gyanvapi case, I would like to say that we, as Indians, should not get too caught up and tangled in matters of masjids/mandirs (mosques/temples) and not let propaganda fuelled by religion sentiments divide us.”
“Our country is a multicultural bouquet of all religions and spiritualities. Our beauty lies in our diversity…let us not forget that,” she said.
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