Asaduddin Owaisi on Gyanvapi: 'Not going to give any masjid, if Hindu side wants to do Dec 6, we will...'

As the dispute over Varanasi's Gyanvapi complex heats up, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said the Muslim side would not concede any mosque to Hindus and that they would fight the legal battle in courts. Gyanvapi mosque is located next to Varanasi's ancient Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Hindus claim the mosque is built on a temple. Some Hindu groups believe that Muslims should give up control of Gyanvapi and Mathura's temple as these are important sacred places for them.     

"We are not going to give any masjid, enough. We will fight in courts of law. If the other side wants to do a December 6, we will see what happens. We have been deceived once. We will not be deceived again," said Owaisi while speaking to India Today TV. On December 6, 1992, Ayodhya's Babri mosque was demolished. 

When asked about the possibilities of reaching some kind of settlement in the Gyanvapi case, Owaisi said, "I am categorically saying that it will not end. We will fight it legally, and we will show the courts what documents and title suits we have".

Also read: Varanasi court allows Hindu side to offer prayers at Gyanvapi

Owaisi, sitting MP from Hyderabad, said Muslims have been offering namaz at the Gyanvapi site. "In Gyanvapi, we have been offering namaz. The argument in Babri Masjid case was that you (Muslims) are not praying over there. Here we are praying continuously. In fact, since 1993, no puja has been done," he said.

When told that the ASI report suggests the presence of Hindu structures discovered beneath the Gyanvapi complex, Owaisi said, "If tomorrow, we start digging Rashtrapati Bhavan, we are bound to find something. We have been offering namaz at the site for hundreds of years."

Last week, a district court allowed Hindus to conduct puja before the idols in a cellar (tehkhana) of the Gyanvapi. It said the prayers will be conducted by a "pujari" nominated by the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust and the petitioner who claimed his grandfather offered puja at the cellar up to December 1993.

Also read: ASI report says 'large Hindu temple existed before' Gyanvapi mosque

Hours after this order, the puja and aarti were performed on the Gyanvapi premises at midnight. The Muslim side moved the Allahabad High Court, seeking a stay on puja. However, the HC refused to stay puja and aarti at the tehkhana.  

Last month, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is representing the Hindu side in the case, said the Archaeological Survey (ASI) has in its report suggested that the Gyanvapi mosque is built on a Hindu temple. He said the ASI has said that sculptures of Hindu deities and carved architectural members were found buried under the dumped soil. 

"Existing architectural remains, decorated mouldings on the walls, a large decorated entrance gate, a small entrance with a mutilated image, and birds and animals carved for decoration in and outside suggest that the western wall is the remaining part of a Hindu temple," he said.  

The advocate further said that an Arabic Persian inscription found inside a room mentions that the mosque was built in the 20th regnal year of Aurangzeb. Hence, he said, the preexisting structure appears to have been destroyed in the 17th century. 

"Based on the scientific studies survey carried outstudy of architectural remains, exposed features, and artefacts inscriptions, art, and sculptures, it can be said that there existed a Hindu temple prior to the construction of the existing structure. A report of a total of 839 pages has been filed by ASI."