Anjuman Intezamia Masajid committee, which manages Gyanvapi mosque, has appealed to the people of the Muslim community to keep their shops closed on Friday in protest against pooja performed in the southern cellar of Gyanvapi mosque a day after the district court allowed it.
Meanwhile, police held flag marches in sensitive areas of Varanasi ahead of Friday namaz, a day after the Varanasi district court allowed puja in a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque here.
A large number of people offer Friday namaz in the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
As a precautionary measure, security has been beefed up in the city given Friday namaz with the police force conducting flag marches in sensitive areas, said Pragya Pathak, Assistant Police Commissioner of the Dasheshmegh area.
Earlier in the day, prayers were performed in a cellar of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Masjid on Wednesday night after a district court ruling. This took place hours before the mosque committee approached the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court seeking a stay on that order.
The Gyanvapi mosque management committee on Thursday approached the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing and challenging the district court order. However, the apex court asked the committee to move the Allahabad High Court, which it did later in the day.
The lower court on Wednesday afternoon ruled that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi Masjid, located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
Hindu litigants claim that an ancient temple was destroyed during Aurangzeb’s rule to build the mosque there. An ASI survey, recently ordered by the same court in a related case, too has suggested this.
“Vyas ji’s cellar was opened after 31 years for prayers,” Kashi Vishwanath temple trust president Nagendra Pandey told PTI after the Wednesday night prayers. He said the cellar was opened around 10.30 pm.
“It was necessary to follow the court’s orders, so the district administration made all arrangements with great promptness,” Pandey said.
Reports said after cleaning the cellar, an ‘aarti’ of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh was performed.
With agency inputs.
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Published: 01 Feb 2024, 09:55 PM IST