A district court in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh has rejected the plea seeking carbon dating of the purported ‘Shivling’ claimed to be found in the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
Hindu petitioners had during a court-mandated videography survey of the mosque premises claimed that a “Shivling” was found close to the “wazookhana”, a small reservoir used by Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering the namaz.
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Dispute over Shivling or fountain
The claim was disputed by the Muslim side, which said the object was part of a “fountain”.
The Hindu side had then submitted an application on September 22 that sought a carbon dating of the object they claimed to be ‘Shivling’.
Carbon dating is a scientific process that ascertains the age of an archaeological object or archaeological finds.
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Muslim petitioners opposed carbon dating
Advocate Mumtaz Ahmed, who appeared for the Muslim side, said they told the court that carbon dating of the object cannot be done.
If the object gets damaged in the name of carbon dating, it amounts to the defiance of the order of the Supreme Court, he said.
Earlier, the Muslim side had contended that the Supreme Court had asked the Varanasi district magistrate to keep the object safe. In such a situation, getting it examined cannot be justified, they had said.
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Nothing to do with the original case
The Muslim side also said the original case is about the worship of Shringar Gauri while the structure in the mosque has nothing to do with it.
In such a condition, neither any investigation can be done by the Archaeological Department nor a legal report be called after conducting a scientific investigation, they had said.
“The Muslim side said that Shivling is not a part of the suit property and its carbon dating cannot be done. We have given our clarification on both of these points,” Vishnu Jain, representing the Hindu petitioners in the cases told ANI.
The case
In May during the court-ordered videography at the Gyanvapi mosque complex, several sculptures of gods and goddesses and patterns of lotus, stone sculptures of Sheshnag and “Nag phan” like patterns were recorded apart from the “Shivling”.
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The court had ordered the survey after a group of Hindus filed a petition seeking permission to perform daily worship of deities Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesha, Lord Hanuman and Nandi whose idols are located on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque.
The women had moved the court with their plea on April 18, 2021, and also sought a court’s order to stop the opponents from causing any damage to the idols.
Plea by Hindu side maintainable: court
The Muslim side had argued that the plea and videography inside the mosque were in violation of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which laid down that a religious place will retain the same character it had on August 15, 1947.
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In September a Varanasi court held that the civil suit seeking the right to pray inside the Gyanvapi mosque premises was maintainable.
The Gyanvaapi mosque is one of the several mosques that Hindu hardliners believe were built on the ruins of temples.
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