New Delhi, July 24, 2021 (PPI-OT):The Muslim side in the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Masjid dispute in Varanasi has handed over 1,700 sq feet of land in the complex to the Temple Corridor as a “goodwill gesture”. In return, the Masjid committee which owns three plots in the complex got 1,000 sq ft land elsewhere.

“The matter is still in the court. The government has been constructing the corridor, they have been seeking acquisition of land. So we consulted our people and the board has okayed the decision to allot 1,700 sq feet of land for the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi,” said S M Yasin, joint secretary, Anjuman Intazamia Masjid.

Earlier in April, a court in Varanasi permitted an archaeological survey of the disputed site. The UP Sunni Central Waqf Board had then moved an urgent petition before the Allahabad High Court seeking a stay on the trial court order.

Hindu groups claim that Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, in 1664, had pulled down a portion of the 2,000-year-old Kashi Vishwanath temple to build the mosque in its place. The Muslim activists have been maintaining that under Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, the status of the religious places cannot be changed and hence this case is barred.

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