Asaduddin Owaisi calls ASI 'Handmaiden of Hindutva' over Gyanvapi Survey report

Asaduddin Owaisi, chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), criticised the Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) survey of the Gyanvapi complex, calling the body 'Handmaiden of Hindutva' in a post.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, the advocate representing Hindu petitioners, claimed the report has "found remnants of a large Hindu temple inside the mosque".

Owaisi slammed the report, accusing it of being based on conjecture rather than scientific study.

Owaisi said, “This wouldn’t stand academic scrutiny before any set of professional archaeologists or historians. The report is based on conjecture and makes a mockery of scientific study. As a great scholar once said 'ASI is the handmaiden of Hindutva'.”

The Gyanvapi Mosque controversy has been a subject of intense debate and legal scrutiny. The heart of the issue lies in the claim that the mosque, located adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, was built over a demolished Hindu temple on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century. This historical contention resurfaced when devotees of the Kashi Vishwanath temple filed a case in 1991, alleging the mosque's construction post-destruction of a Lord Vishweshwar temple.

The ASI report suggested that the temple was destroyed during Aurangzeb's reign, with inscriptions indicating the mosque's construction in the 20th regnal year of the emperor. Artifacts such as pillars with bells, niches for lamps, and temple inscriptions were reportedly reused in building the mosque. Despite these findings, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, responsible for managing the Gyanvapi mosque, stated that they had yet to review the ASI report thoroughly.

The dispute gained legal traction when, in August 2021, five women petitioned for the right to worship unhindered at the Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal within the complex. Following a district court order, the ASI conducted a survey to ascertain if the mosque was built over a pre-existing Hindu temple structure. The Hindu claimants argued that a shivling was discovered during the survey, while the Muslim side contended that the structure was a fountain used for ceremonial ablutions. The area where the alleged shivling was found remains sealed under the orders of the Supreme Court.

Owaisi's apprehension is rooted in the potential repercussions of making the ASI report public, fearing it could lead to events similar to those of December 23 and December 6, referencing the appearance of an idol inside the Babri Masjid in 1949 and its subsequent demolition in 1992. 

He hopes that the Supreme Court's observations on the Places of Worship Act, which were made during the Ayodhya judgment, will be upheld to prevent what he views as the opening of "floodgates for a thousand Babris."

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