The Allahabad High Court on Friday declined to give any immediate relief to the Anzuman Intezamia Masjid Committee that runs the Gyanvapi mosque, which had approached the court seeking an interim stay on the puja which is being observed in the mosque’s basement on the orders of the district court.
A large police force, including the Provincial Armed Constabulary, was deployed outside Gyanvapi mosque as Friday namaz was offered with over 2,000 worshippers in attendance, amid protests from the Muslim community which shut its shops to demonstrate its unhappiness against the court order allowing Hindu worship inside the mosque.
While hearing the application filed by the mosque committee through senior advocate S.F.A. Naqvi, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal pointed out that the applicants have not challenged the January 17 order of the district court appointing the Varanasi District Magistrate (DM) as the receiver of the southern cellar of the mosque. That order came in response to a petition filed by Shailendra Pathak, the head priest of the Acharya Ved Vyas Peeth temple in Varanasi.
Amend plea, says court
On the same application, the district court had, on January 31, allowed puja to be performed inside the cellar of the mosque. Within hours of the order by the now retired district judge A.K. Vishvesha, the district administration ensured compliance, removing the barricades and fencing around the mosque to let a priest enter the cellar. Puja was then performed during the wee hours on February 1, and is still continuing.
“You have filed the application under Order 7 Rule 11 (Rejection of Plaint) after the appointment of a receiver. Your case is not that the application should be heard first. How will this appeal be maintainable unless that order is challenged?” the court said. It directed the mosque committee to amend its plea, and set the next date of hearing for February 6.
The court also ordered the district administration to maintain law and order in the town. “No mishap should happen,” the court said.
Thousands offer namaz
Over 2,000 Muslims gathered at the Gyanvapi mosque to offer namaz on Friday afternoon, putting the police on its toes to maintain the law and order situation. Announcements were made to ensure that worshippers did not gather at any one spot. Senior members of the Muslim community were taken into confidence and made appeals to the people to peacefully offer Friday prayers. The police also conducted a flag march ahead of the prayers.
The mosque committee had also appealed to Muslims to keep their shops and businesses closed, and most complied.
“We had urged the young generation of our community to maintain complete peace. But one can easily see that there is an anger among people of the community as so many of them have gathered at Gyanvapi to offer namaz. We had to ask many people to return as the mosque had a limited space,” said S.M. Yaseen, joint secretary of the mosque committee.
