Gyanvapi Mosque Survey Pushed Back As High Court Seeks Clarifications

The methodology of a scientific survey at Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque has not satisfied the Allahabad High Court, which has asked the Archaeological Survey of India for more details.  The hearing will continue and the court made it clear that there can be no survey till tomorrow evening, extending the Supreme Court-imposed freeze on survey.

On July 24, the top court had halted a "detailed scientific survey" by the ASI -- ordered earlier by a Varanasi court -- till 5 pm on Wednesday. The survey was meant to determine if the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple, as a Hindu group has contended.

In the backdrop of the Ram Janambhoomi issue, the mosque committee had asked the Supreme Court for a freeze on the ASI work, alleging "tearing hurry" on part of the authorities in going ahead with the survey.

But the Archaeological Survey's response on their methodology has not satisfied the Allahabad court, which wanted details on how the survey can be conducted without damaging the existing mosque.
During the hearing earlier today, Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the mosque, said the 1000-year-old structure might collapse if the ground below it is excavated.

The Hindu group has submitted that excavations might be needed at the last stage. "ASI will do radar mapping. Excavation will also be conducted if circumstances demand, that too in the last stage," its counsel had said.

"Either you videograph the survey or submit that there will be no damage to the mosque," the court had said, to which the Hindu group had agreed.

When the mosque committee said it does not trust the assurances, it brought a sharp retort from the court. "When you don't trust anyone, how will you trust our ruling?" the judges said.

To the Hindu side's submission that the ASI team is waiting, Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker said, "I am not satisfied with what you are going to do."

The Gyanvapi mosque, located in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is one of the several mosques that Hindu hardliners believe were built on the ruins of temples. It was one of the three temple-mosque rows, besides Ayodhya and Mathura, which the BJP raised in the 1980s and 90s, that gained national prominence.

The Hindu side has claimed that a temple built at the site in 1585 on the orders of Raja Todar Mal -- a minister of Emperor Akbar -- was demolished in 1669. A group of Hindu women have now sought permission to worship in the premises.