Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India]: Kashi Vishwanath Temple (KVT) Trust Chairman Prof Nagendra Pandey on Wednesday (May 18) demanded handing over of the Shivling said to be found in the Gyanvapi structure to Kashi Vishwanath Temple for proper worship till the matter is in court.
“If idol of Baba Vishweshwar was found then how can it be a ‘wazukhana’, this cannot happen now. We demand that, until the ruling comes, Shivling be handed over to Kashi Vishwanath Nyas so that God can be duly worshipped,” Prof Pandey told ANI.
Meanwhile, an application has been filed in Varanasi court to demolish the wall beside wazukhana where a Shivling is found during the survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque premises, said lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side on Wednesday.
The three-day-long court-monitored videography survey of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi concluded on Monday.
On Monday, the Hindu petitioner in the case, Sohan Lal Arya, said the committee found a Shivling at the complex. Arya, who accompanied the court commission for the mosque survey, said that they have found “conclusive evidence”.
The Supreme Court heard the plea seeking a stay on the survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi on Tuesday and observed that till the next date of hearing Varanasi District Magistrate will ensure that the Shivling area will be protected, but it will not impede access of Muslims to the mosque for prayers.
On Tuesday, the President of the Hindu Sena, Vishnu Gupta, filed an intervention application seeking directions for dismissal of the petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Management Committee challenging the videography survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex, which is adjacent to the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi.
After the conclusion of the survey, the Varanasi court ordered the District Magistrate of Varanasi, Kaushal Raj Sharma, “to seal the area where the Shivling was found and to bar people from going to the place.”
In its order, the court said that the DM, police commissioner and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandant Varanasi will be responsible for the security of the sealed area. (ANI)
