New Delhi

- The case of mosques - especially archaeological ones - continues in India, the latest of which is the "Gyan Wabi" mosque in the northern region of Waranasi, which is facing a campaign of cases targeting it before 3 Indian courts at the same time.

Today, Wednesday, the Muslim party submitted its response and objection before the Waranasi Court to the request of the Hindu party to open the floor below the mosque to inspect it, and also announced the rejection of the report of the mosque survey committee appointed by the court, and visited it on May 16 last, and its report claimed that the mosque’s fountain is in the form of a “chef.” Shivling, the genital organ of their god Shiva, a member worshiped by Hindus, and whose images and statues are placed in their temples.

In front of the court, the Hindu party tried to obtain an order to re-survey the mosque, especially its basement, and to subject the fountain to scientific and carbon examination.

In its previous session on October 21 last, the court imposed a symbolic fine on the mosque committee because it did not register its objection to the case filed within the legal period, and it also rejected the request of the Hindu side to examine the mosque’s fountain for a scientific carbon-based examination.

3 Courts hearing cases related to the "Gyan Ouabi" mosque (French)

Politics..not religion

The case was brought by 5 Hindu women before the Waranasi court, demanding that they be allowed to visit the mosque to perform Hindu rituals, although they do not all reside in the city of Waranasi, which observers infer that it is a political case, not a religious one.

The Gyan Wapi Mosque was established in 1669 during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb.

Hindus claim that it was erected on the land of a temple to them, to begin a series of cases targeting the mosque since the mid-19th century, despite the repeated rejection of the Indian courts.

Currently, 3 courts are considering the status of the mosque, which are the Waranasi District Court, the Allahabad High Court, and the High Court in New Delhi.

The Gyan Wapi Mosque is now surrounded on all sides by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's major expansions of the Gyan Wapi temple, which is adjacent to the mosque, after demolishing many homes and small temples in the area.

The security forces guarding the place can prevent Muslims at any time from approaching the mosque, knowing that Muslims are not allowed to enter it except during prayer times.

The Indian authorities often prevent Muslims from approaching the mosque and do not allow them to enter it except during prayer time (Reuters)

3 thousand mosques

In the same context, the New Delhi High Court will hear the mosque case on November 10.

This case was brought up by the same five women, who demanded to "preserve the sacred genital organ", which they claim is present in the mosque, while Muslims assert that it is nothing but a fountain in the mosque.

On the other hand, the Director-General of the Indian Antiquities Authority submitted a pledge to the Supreme Court in the city of "Allahabad" on October 31 last that he was ready to carry out everything ordered by the court regarding the survey of the "Gyan Wapi" mosque.

The court gave the mosque committee an opportunity to respond to this pledge within 10 days.

The Indian Antiquities Authority had refused last April to comply with the Waranasi District Court's order to survey the mosque, stressing that it was ready to conduct the survey if the order was from the Supreme Court, and then the court appointed a local committee to conduct the survey.

The Mosque Committee evaluates its defense that “these cases are corrupt because they violate the Protection of Places of Worship Act of 1991,” which is supposed to protect all places of worship in India - except for the Babri Mosque - on the status it was in at independence in August 1947.

Gyan Wapi is one of the 3,000 mosques targeted in India (French)

While Hindus claim that the place was a temple at independence, Muslims assert that prayer has not stopped in this mosque since its establishment in the 17th century.

It is noteworthy that the "Gyan Wabi" mosque is one of 3,000 mosques across India that Hindus claim to have been built on the ruins of their temples.

They have filed cases in dozens of courts demanding the demolition of these mosques and the rebuilding of temples that they claim existed, and among these mosques also is the "Idkah" mosque in the city of Mathura.

Observers believe that the Hindus are working according to a plan aimed at prolonging these claims for dozens of years to exhaust Muslims, and to prepare public opinion until the conditions are created for the demolition of these mosques or their seizure, as happened previously for the Babri Mosque, in which they placed their statues in December 1949, before they demolished it. In December 1992, and later the Supreme Court granted them the land of the mosque in November 2019, despite recognizing the right of Muslims to it.