New Delhi, May 18, 2022 (PPI-OT):Muslim organisations including All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have vowed to fight the case of Gyanvapi mosque after Varanasi court ordered sealing of the wazukhana portion of the mosque claiming the presence of Shivling there.
Reacting to the order passed by the court in Varanasi, AIMBPL general secretary Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said, “If the status of the places of worship is changed on the basis of such arguments, then the whole country will be pushed into a turmoil, because many big temples are built by converting Buddhist and Jain shrines and their traces are also visible there. Muslims cannot tolerate this atrocity. The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board will fight this injustice at every level”.
Talking about the title suit of Gyanvapi complex, Rahmani pointed out that in 1937, the court had declared that the entire complex belongs to the mosque. The wazukhana portion, where the Shivling has been claimed, was declared as part of the mosque in that order, he said.
“The Gyanvapi Mosque is a mosque and will remain a mosque. Any attempt to term it a temple is nothing more than a conspiracy to create communal disharmony. It is a matter of constitutional rights and is against the law. In 1937, in the case of Deen Mohammad Vs State Secretary, the court had decided on the basis of oral testimony and documents that this entire compound (Gyanvapi Mosque complex) belongs to the Muslim Waqf and Muslims have the right to offer namaz in it,” he said.
Rahmani cited 1991 Places of Worship Act to point out that the survey ordered by the court is a violation of the law. “This order is an excess and also a violation of law which cannot be expected from a court. The government should stop the implementation of the order and wait for the Allahabad High Court’s decision. The government should protect all religious places as per the 1991 Act,” he said.
Meanwhile, the AIMPLB has called a meeting of its executive committee to decide its line of action with regard to the case. They will discuss the matters related to other mosques too, which are being targeted, along with Gyanvapi case and decide their line of action.
With regard to Gyanvapi case, Ilyas said that the AIMBPL is currently standing by the Mosque Management Committee, which is fighting the case of Gyanvapi mosque. If need be, the board can also be party in the case as it was in the Babri case. They can declare it after the Supreme Court passed the judgment in the case.
On the other hand, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind President Syed Sadatullah Husaini said that his organisation supports the stand taken by the AIMPLB and the developments related to the mosque are a “mischief”.
“The activities at Gyanwapi Masjid, Varanasi are against the law of the land and one more mischief to polarize the society. We support the stand taken by AIMPLB fully in letter and spirit,” he said.
All India Muslims Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) said that they will decide the course of the action after the Supreme Court announced its order on the plea challenging the order passed by the Varanasi court.
Navaid Hamid, president of the AIMMM, called the developments around the Gyanvapi mosque a part of Sangh groups’ agenda.
“They claimed the presence of Shivling there, should we accept their claim. The order of the court to seal the portion of the mosque is illegal. The court has no right to pass such order. The second thing is that the commission which was formed in this regard has not submitted its report so far. How did the court pass the order without the commission’s report,” he said.
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