Yogi Adityanath on Gyanvapi: 'If we call it mosque, then there will be dispute; whoever has eyes can see'

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that there will be a dispute if one calls Gyanvapi a mosque. He said whoever has eyes can see the structure. Gyanvapi mosque is situated adjacent to Varanasi's ancient Kashi Vishwanath temple. Hindus believe that the mosque was built by the Mughals on a temple as many Hindu symbols can be seen inside the premises and on the walls of the structure.

In an interview with ANI, Adityanath said what a trishul (trident) was doing on the mosque premises. "If we call it a mosque, then it will be a dispute... What is the trident doing there in the mosque? We did not keep it. There is a jyotirlinga and deities are there," he said. The chief minister said that a proposal should come from the Muslim community that a 'historic mistake' was committed and it should be fixed.

Earlier this month, a Varanasi district court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a survey to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque was built upon a temple. However, the Muslim side moved the Supreme Court, which stayed the survey for a day and asked them to approach the Allahabad High Cout.

The Allahabad HC has reserved till August 3 its verdict on the plea against the district court's order for the ASI survey. During the hearing, Advocate General Ajai Mishra, who appeared for the state, said the UP government is there to maintain law and order and that it has no concern with the survey.

The counsel for the Hindu side, Vishnu Shankar Jain, submitted that the district court has called for an ASI survey to come to a logical conclusion. He also presented in the court some photographs of the western side of the mosque showing the existence of Hindu idols and their worship.

When the hearing started in the case, ASI Additional Director Alok Tripathi informed the court that the ASI was not going to dig the structure.

The mosque is located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple and Hindu litigants in the district court had sought the survey to determine whether a temple existed at the same spot earlier.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, the counsel for the respondent (Hindu side), submitted that in the Ayodhya Ram Mandir case, a survey was conducted by the ASI, and the same was accepted by the High Court as well as the SC. Thus, he said, the order passed by the district court was just and proper. Jain said this after the lawyer, appearing for the Muslim side, argued that during the survey if any excavation is done, it will harm/damage the property in dispute (mosque).  

The HC has also fixed August 28 for passing judgment on a petition challenging the maintainability of a 1991 civil suit before the district court seeking the "restoration" of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque is currently situated.  

(With inputs from PTI)