Survey finds mosque in India's Varanasi was built over temple - Hindu
petitioners
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[January 26, 2024]
By Saurabh Sharma
LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has
found that a 17th century mosque in one of Hinduism's holiest cities was
built after destroying a Hindu temple that existed there, a lawyer for
Hindu petitioners said, a possible new flashpoint in a decades-long
dispute.
Muslim lawyers in the legal case being heard in the city of Varanasi
disputed the comments by the lawyer for the Hindu petitioners but did
not give details.
The Gyanvapi mosque is in Varanasi, which is also Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency.
Reuters has not seen the full ASI report, copies of which were shared
only with the petitioners in the case. The regional office of the ASI in
Uttar Pradesh state, where Varanasi is located, declined comment.
The ASI headquarters in New Delhi did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on a public holiday. The district court registrar in
Varanasi city could not be reached for comment.
"Remnants of the statues of Hindu gods have been found in the basements
during the court-ordered survey," Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer
representing Hindu petitioners, told reporters on Thursday.
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He said the 800-page ASI report had found that based on the survey and
the study of architectural remains, artefacts, arts and scriptures, "it
can be said that there existed a large Hindu temple prior to the
construction of the existing structure."
The report also said the pre-existing structure appears to have been
destroyed during the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and part of it
was modified and reused in the existing structure, Jain said.
He told the ANI news agency later that the Hindu petitioners will now
approach the Supreme Court to demand that an area of the mosque be
opened for Hindus.
Advocates representing Muslim groups said they would respond after
studying the survey report. "Whatever the Hindu side is saying is false
reporting," said Akhlaq Ahmad, an advocate representing Muslim
petitioners, without giving details.
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![](../images/012624PIX/news_k80.jpg)
A worker stands on a temple rooftop adjacent to the Gyanvapi Mosque
in the northern city of Varanasi, India, December 12, 2021. REUTERS/Pawan
Kumar/File Photo
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The development comes days after Modi opened a grand temple to
Hinduism's Lord Ram in the northern city of Ayodhya, built on the
site of a 16th century mosque that was destroyed by a Hindu mob in
1992 claiming that the site marked the birthplace of the god-king.
At least 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in sectarian
riots across India after the 1992 razing of the Ayodhya mosque.
The temple inauguration, months before Modi seeks a rare third term
in national elections, has been portrayed by his party and its
affiliates as a Hindu reawakening.
Muslims are the largest minority group in Hindu majority India.
Hindu hardline groups, including those linked to Modi's party, have
for decades said that Mughal rulers during their conquest of the
region built monuments and places of worship after destroying
ancient Hindu structures or temples.
Communal violence arising from such disputes has flared
periodically, and Muslim and Hindu devotees offer prayers cheek by
jowl in places like Varanasi amid tight security.
Indian law bars conversion of any place of worship and provides for
the maintenance of religious character of places of worship as they
existed on India's independence day on August 15, 1947, with the
exception of the Ayodhya shrine. However, the Supreme Court is
hearing arguments on challenges to the law.
(Writing by Shivam Patel, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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