There should be a proposal from the Muslim side that there’s been a historic mistake that needs a solution, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said in his first comments on the Gyanvapi mosque dispute.
In statements made reportedly on a podcast with ANI’s Smita Prakash, Adityanath said: “We haven’t kept it there… the jyotirling is there. Idols are there. I think there should be a proposal from the Muslim side that there has been a historic mistake and we want a solution to this mistake.”
“If we call it a mosque, then there will be controversy. People must think… what is a trishul doing there,” he added.
Objecting to the UP Chief Minister’s statement, AIMIM leader Waris Patha told News18: “We can’t go back to the 90s. We have to follow the Places of Worship Act. Such statements should not be made while the case is in court. The matter is sub-judice.”
The case is ongoing in the Allahabad High Court, which has reserved till August 3 its verdict on a plea against a Varanasi district court order directing the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a survey to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque was built upon a temple. The mosque is located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
The court also ordered that the stay on the ASI survey will continue till August 3. The High Court was hearing the plea filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the mosque.
Appearing for the state of Uttar Pradesh, Advocate General Ajai Mishra said the state government is there to maintain law and order, and that it has no concern with the survey.
The counsel for the Hindu side, Vishnu Shankar Jain, submitted that the district court had ordered for the ASI survey to come to a “logical conclusion regarding existence of deities and nature and age of the structure”. He also presented in the court some photographs of the western side of the mosque purportedly showing the existence of Hindu idols.
Here’s a look at the timeline of the Gyanvapi dispute so far:
- August 2021: Plea filed before a Varanasi civil court by five Hindu devotees seeking permission to offer daily prayers at the Gyanvapi mosque.
- April 8, 2022: Civil court orders a survey of the premises and appoints Ajay Kumar Mishra as in-charge of the exercise.
- May 13, 2022: Supreme Court refuses interim order of status quo on the survey of the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex.
- May 17, 2022: SC passes interim order directing the district magistrate of Varanasi to ensure protection of the area inside the complex.
- May 20, 2022: SC transfers the case from a civil judge to a district judge.
- Oct 14, 2022: Varanasi district court rejects plea for carbon dating of the Shivling.
- Nov 10, 2022: SC agrees to set up a bench to hear the case.
- May 12, 2023: Allahabad High Court orders determination of the age of the Shivling using modern technology.
- May 19, 2023: SC defers scientific survey to determine the age of Shivling.
- July 21, 2023: Varanasi district court directs the ASI to conduct the survey — including excavations, wherever necessary — to determine if the mosque was built at a place where a temple existed earlier.
- July 24, 2023: SC halts ASI’s survey at premises till 5pm on July 26, asks HC to hear mosque panel’s plea.
- July 27, 2023: Allahabad High Court reserves till August 3 its verdict. It also orders that the stay on the ASI survey will continue till August 3
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