Gyanvapi Mosque Title Issue: After Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura back on the Agenda

Asia News Agency

Gyanvapi Mosque Title Issue: After Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura back on the Agenda

The Varanasi district and sessions court Monday dismissed the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s challenge against the civil suits that questioned the Gyanvapi mosque’s title and the land surrounding it.

Five Hindu women had filed petitions seeking the right to worship ‘Maa Shringar Gauri’ on the outer wall of the mosque complex located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Uttar Pradesh.

The dismissal by district judge means that the civil suits will be heard in detail and examination of evidence will follow. On May 20, the Supreme Court, underlining the ‘complexity of the issues involved in the civil suit’, transferred the Gyanvapi dispute that was pending before the Varanasi civil judge (senior division) to the district judge.

While the Hindu side said the mosque was built on the site of a temple, the Muslim side said the mosque was built on ‘waqf’ premises and that the Places of Worship Act barred changing its character.

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