Gyanvapi mosque survey to resume at 10.30am amid Muslim side’s boycott threat

A team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials will resume the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi at 10.30 am on Monday morning.

There may be a slight delay today owing to it being the fifth Monday of ‘Sawan’ month (considered one of the most auspicious periods by Hindus), Sudhir Tripathi, an advocate representing the Hindu side, told news agency ANI.

He added that the work is progressing and the Anjuman Intezamia Committee, which manages the mosque, is cooperating with the survey.

Sharing an update on the ASI survey, Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi, another lawyer from the Hindu side, told ANI that the work is being done in a ‘systematic’ manner and that the ‘measurements will take some time’.

Scientific tests of the area under the three domes of Gyanvapi mosque were conducted on Sunday to determine if the 17th-century masjid was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. The Hindu side’s lawyer, Vishnu Shankar Jain, said that the ‘photography, mapping and measurement of the area’ has been completed along with cleaning of a few basements. Later, Jain added that representatives of the Hindu side will not comment on the findings of the survey as it is being done under the court’s supervision.

The primary stage of the court-ordered survey is over and the secondary stage has begun with “machines” including radars. Tripathi said on Saturday that the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and other techniques were employed for the work. The Hindu side is satisfied with the survey so far, he added.

Ahmad on Sunday slammed the Hindu representatives for allegedly “spreading rumours” that fragments of Hindu idols have been found in the debris inside the complex. “Rumours are being spread even for areas where a survey is yet to be done… When the public sees this, there will be a frenzy… ” Ahmad told ANI.

Syed Mohammad Yasin, joint secretary of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, also accused a section of media of falsely claiming that idols, ‘trishul’ and ‘kalash’ were found during the survey of the ‘tahkhaanaa’ (basement) on Saturday. “If such acts are not contained, the Muslim side will once again boycott the survey work,” he said.

The scientific survey of the complex, adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath temple, excluding Wuzu Khana, began on Friday, following Allahabad high court’s order, which allowed the ASI to conduct the exercise. The Muslim side did not participate in the survey on Friday.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the Allahabad HC order, an exercise that the Muslim side says will “reopen wounds of the past”.