The caretakers of the iconic Gyanvapi mosque, said that the object which was found in the ablution water tank of the mosque in the concluding day of a Court Commissioner-led video inspection, was not a shivling but a part of a stone fountain in the wazu khana (ablution tank) of the mosque.
A local court in Varanasi on Monday ordered that a portion of the mosque premises be sealed after lawyers representing five Hindu plaintiffs claimed that a ‘shivling’ was found.
The mosque’s lawyers said they would file an objection to the civil court’s orders.
They also said that they will challenge what they termed was a one-sided sealing of a portion of the mosque premises in higher courts.
After the court-commission proceeding was concluded today, Hari Shankar Jain, a lawyer for the Hindu petitioners, submitted an application in the court of Civil Judge Senior Division Ravi Kumar Diwakar claiming that a shivling was found in the premises of the mosque during the inspection.
The survey that was carried out three consecutive days came to an end hours ago amid tight security.
Jain demanded that the area be sealed and entry to it be prohibited, saying it was an “important piece of evidence.”
Judge Diwakar admitted the application by Hindu petitioners and directed District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma to immediately seal the area where the shivling was found and prohibit entry of all persons.
The court also directed the CRPF Commandant, DM and Police Commissioner to protect the secure the sealed area.
“We wouldn’t describe it as a Shivling. It is a part of a fountain,” Sayin Yasin, joint secretary of the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid, the caretaker of the mosque, told The Hindu.
According to Yasin, the Mughal-era mosques usually had a water tank which also had fountains.
A Supreme Court bench, led by Justice DY Chandrachud, is set to hear on Tuesday an appeal filed by the masjid committee against the Allahabad High Court’s order allowing a court-appointed commissioner to inspect, conduct a survey and videography of the Gyanvapi Mosque.
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