Varanasi admin prepares plan to allow wuzu at Gyanvapi in Ramzan

Temporary arrangements for wuzu (ritual ablutions) during Ramzan will be made in the Gyanvapi Masjid complex in Varanasi and a water tank will be set up on the premises.

Temporary arrangements for wuzu (ritual ablutions) during Ramzan will be made in the Gyanvapi Masjid complex in Varanasi and a water tank will be set up on the premises, the district administration and mosque management committee decided on Tuesday, after a Supreme Court mandated meeting to work out a solution on Ramzan prayers.

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Part of the Gyanvapi premises were sealed on orders of a Varanasi court in May last year after Hindu petitioners claimed that they found a shivling during a controversial survey of the premises. The Muslim side says the structure is a ritual ablution fountain. The survey was ordered by a local court on the plea of five Hindu women who want daily worshipping rights in the complex.

On Tuesday, Varanasi district magistrate S Rajalingam held a meeting with the Gyanvapi mosque management committee and other stakeholders, a day after the top court directed authorities to convene a meeting and work out a “congenial arrangement” on the committee’s plea to arrange for wuzu during Ramzan prayers in the premises. “In view of the directive of the honourable Supreme Court, we held a meeting with office bearers of the Gyanvapi mosque management committee. In the meeting, a consensus was reached for making temporary arrangement for wuzu in the mosque premises as per their requirement,” Rajalingam said. “The members were satisfied with the meeting.”

Four members of the mosque committee, including Mufti-E-Banaras Maulana Abdul Batin Nomani and joint secretary of the committee SM Yasin, said the administration accepted their demand for a temporary toilet and wuzu during Ramzan prayers.

“The district magistrate accepted our demand and assured us that the temporary arrangements for wuzu will be ready in the next few hours,” said Yasin, adding that a water tank would be set up in the mosque complex as part of temporary arrangements. The Islamic holy month of Ramzan is scheduled to end this weekend.

On Monday, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud said the Varanasi district collector should convene a meeting with representatives of the mosque management committee and other stakeholders on Tuesday. The bench said the matter will be taken up again on Friday when appropriate directions on arrangements for wuzu will be passed.