UP BJP welcomes HC order on Gyanvapi mosque survey, says exercise will bring out truth

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh BJP on Thursday welcomed the Allahabad High Court order allowing an ASI survey on the Gyanvapi mosque premises and said the exercise will bring out the truth.

This is an issue related to the faith of crores of people, BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said in a tweet in Hindi.

Earlier in the day, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a petition filed by the Gyanvapi committee challenging a district court order directing the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey on the mosque premises to determine if it was built upon a temple.

It said the district court order is just and proper, and no interference from this court is warranted.

Reacting to the court order, Chaudhary said, "We welcome the decision of the Hon'ble high court on the Gyanvapi issue. Everyone should cooperate and accept the decision of the honourable court. The survey will bring out the truth."

"Whatever is being reflected directly in Gyanvapi is a historical truth and a matter related to the faith of crores of people. Everyone should understand and accept the historical reality of Gyanvapi," he said.

Dismissing the petition filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, the high court said there is no reason to not believe the ASI's assurance that the survey will not cause any damage to the structure.

It asserted that no digging should be done at the mosque as part of the survey.

The mosque's 'wazukhana', where a structure claimed by Hindu litigants to be a 'shivling' exists, will not be part of the survey -- following an earlier Supreme Court order protecting that spot in the complex.

Hindu activists claim that a temple existed earlier at the site where the mosque stands and was demolished in the 17th century on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.