The Varanasi court ordered district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma “to seal the area and prohibit the entry of any person to the area”. In its order, the court said the DM, police commissioner and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandant Varanasi will be responsible for the security of the sealed area. The court ordered that a pond in the Gyanvapi Mosque complex be sealed amid reports that a “Shivling” has been found in it. The direction comes after an advocate filed a petition in the court of civil judge senior division Ravi Kumar Diwakar seeking the area should be protected.
As per the report of the Times of India, SM Yasin, joint secretary of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages Gyanvapi Mosque, said, ” We strictly followed the order by the court and fully cooperated in the survey. I am deeply pained that the people associated with petitioners are making claims which suit them and leaking details of proceedings of the survey.”
A detailed report of the survey will be submitted on Tuesday as per the instructions of the Varanasi Court.
“The court commission has completed the survey. The report will be submitted in the court. Both sides followed the court rules,” Varanasi District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said.
The court-mandated videography survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex was completed today, May 16. Nearly 65 per cent of the exercise was completed yesterday. As per the report of the India Today, Lawyer Vishnu Jain said that a shivling was found inside the well. He said he would go to civil court to seek its protection. The shivling is 12 feet by 8 inches in diameter. An advocate from the Hindu side, Madan Mohan Yadav, claimed that the shivling is Nandi faced. On Sunday, the survey of the areas of the mosque which, according to lawyers Harishankar Jain and Vishnu Jain, used to be a part of the temple was done.
The Hindu side is seeking permission to worship daily at the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex, and for this, the petitioners have demanded survey of the complex. The Hindu side says that to prove the existence of the idol of Shringar Gauri, one has to go inside the mosque. This is the reason why the survey team is attempting to enter the mosque premises to inspect and take video records.
On the other hand, the mosque management committee (Anjuman Intezamiya Masajid) says the idol of Shringar Gauri is outside, on the western wall of the mosque. Moreover, they claim the court did not pass any orders allowing videography inside the mosque but only till the courtyard outside the barricading.
