The controversy over Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi is getting complicated with reports that eight idols have been placed in Vyas Ji Ka Tehkhana (cellar) below the complex. Meanwhile, Muslim clerics have started pointing fingers at the judiciary. Ten idols were found during survey of Gyanvapi complex, and these were kept by Archeological Survey of India in the district treasury. After the district court ordered puja inside the southern cellar, eight of these idols were taken out and placed inside the cellar on Friday. Prayers are now being offered before these idols. Already Muslim outfits are unhappy over the fresh developments.
On Friday, clerics from All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Jamiat Ulama e Hind, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said at a press conference, "enough is enough". They said, the community had accepted the Supreme Court verdict in Ayodhya case in 2019, but they are now losing patience. Top Muslim community leaders Maulana Arshad Madani, principal of Darul Uloom, Deoband, Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, president, AIMPLB, Malik Motasim Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and Kamal Farooqui of AIMPLB, said they have lost confidence in court verdicts because, according to them, "courts are giving biased orders". The Islamic scholars warned that this trend could vitiate the atmosphere in the country. Jamaat vice-president Malik Motasim Khan alleged that the "bureaucracy judiciary and the entire system is working at the behest of the government and Muslims are fast losing patience." A time will come, he said, when Muslims will not even listed to the voice of their own leaders and this could be harmful for the nation. Jamiat chief Maulana Arshad Madani blamed the Supreme Court's 2019 Ayodhya verdict as the "main cause of present turmoil". He said, if such verdicts are going to come, "it will be better to set fire to books on jurisprudence". One can understand the unhappiness among Muslim clerics over the manner in which puja was resumed in the cellar of Gyanvapi mosque. But there are many such aggressive elements in their ranks, who will rather not listen to reason.
The matter is presently before the Allahabad High Court, and hearing in this case will resume on February 6. Even before the hearing is over, it will be unjustified to say that the bureaucracy and judiciary are working under government's pressure. One case related to Gyanvapi had gone to the Supreme Court earlier, and the apex court had given relief to the Muslim side and ordered that the 'Wazukhana' be sealed. The apex court had stayed scientific testing of a Shivling-type stone found in the 'Wazukhana'. I think, the Muslim side should think a hundred times before pointing fingers at the judiciary. I was surprised to find a moderate cleric like Maulana Mehmood Madani using strong language. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi went to the extent of blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this dispute. This will create unnecessary problems. I had said on Thursday that the matter should be sorted out through dialogue and restraint is the need of the hour.
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