Allahabad High Court upholds Hindu ‘right’ to worship idols in Gyanvapi mosque
February 26, 2024The Allahabad High Court has upheld the “rights” of Hindus to conduct worship idols within the cellar of the historical Gyanvapi Mosque in Varnasi, a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, dismissing two appeals filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Mosque Committee.
The appeals contested the district judge’s January 17 order, which allowed ‘puja’ within the premises. The court’s decision shows a clear tendency towards the Hindutva agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Center and states of India.
Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal dismissed the mosque management committee’s appeal that had challenged the Varanasi district court’s order allowing “puja” to be performed in the “Vyas Tehkhana” or southern cellar of the mosque.
The Anjuman Intezamia Mosque Committee manages the affairs of the Gyanvapi mosque. It moved the high court on February 2, hours after the Supreme Court refused to hear its plea against the district court order and asked it to approach the high court.
The district court ruled on January 31 that a Hindu priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the mosque. The prayers are now being conducted by a “pujari” nominated by the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust and the petitioner, who has claimed that his grandfather offered puja in the cellar till December 1993.
