LUCKNOW, India: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has discovered {that a} seventeenth century mosque in considered one of Hinduism’s holiest cities was constructed after destroying a Hindu temple that existed there, a lawyer for Hindu petitioners mentioned, a potential new flashpoint in a decades-long dispute.
Muslim legal professionals within the authorized case being heard within the metropolis of Varanasi disputed the feedback by the lawyer for the Hindu petitioners however didn’t give particulars.
The Gyanvapi mosque is in Varanasi, which can also be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency.
Reuters has not seen the complete ASI report, copies of which have been shared solely with the petitioners within the case. The regional workplace of the ASI in Uttar Pradesh state, the place Varanasi is situated, declined remark.
The ASI headquarters in New Delhi didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon a public vacation. The district court docket registrar in Varanasi metropolis couldn’t be reached for remark.
“Remnants of the statues of Hindu gods have been discovered within the basements throughout the court-ordered survey,” Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer representing Hindu petitioners, informed reporters on Thursday.
He mentioned the 800-page ASI report had discovered that based mostly on the survey and the examine of architectural stays, artefacts, arts and scriptures, “it may be mentioned that there existed a big Hindu temple previous to the development of the present construction.”
The report additionally mentioned the pre-existing construction seems to have been destroyed throughout the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and a part of it was modified and reused within the current construction, Jain mentioned.
He informed the ANI information company later that the Hindu petitioners will now method the Supreme Court docket to demand that an space of the mosque be opened for Hindus.
Advocates representing Muslim teams mentioned they might reply after finding out the survey report. “Regardless of the Hindu aspect is saying is fake reporting,” mentioned Akhlaq Ahmad, an advocate representing Muslim petitioners, with out giving particulars.
The event comes days after Modi opened a grand temple to Hinduism’s Lord Ram within the northern metropolis of Ayodhya, constructed on the location of a sixteenth century mosque that was destroyed by a Hindu mob in 1992 claiming that the location marked the birthplace of the god-king.
At the very least 2,000 individuals, principally Muslims, have been killed in sectarian riots throughout India after the 1992 razing of the Ayodhya mosque.
The temple inauguration, months earlier than Modi seeks a uncommon third time period in nationwide elections, has been portrayed by his get together and its associates as a Hindu reawakening.
Muslims are the biggest minority group in Hindu majority India. Hindu hardline teams, together with these linked to Modi’s get together, have for many years mentioned that Mughal rulers throughout their conquest of the area constructed monuments and locations of worship after destroying historical Hindu buildings or temples.
Communal violence arising from such disputes has flared periodically, and Muslim and Hindu devotees provide prayers cheek by jowl in locations like Varanasi amid tight safety.
Indian legislation bars conversion of anywhere of worship and offers for the upkeep of spiritual character of locations of worship as they existed on India’s independence day on August 15, 1947, excluding the Ayodhya shrine. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court docket is listening to arguments on challenges to the legislation.