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‘Wrong to think…’: Hindu side on ‘new discoveries’ in Gyanvapi mosque
The Archaeological Survey of India is conducting a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi to determine if it was built over a temple.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Monday conducted the scientific survey of the complex housing Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi for the fourth day to determine if the mosque was built over a temple. Hindu side's lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain said it is wrong to assume that some new discovery will be made every day.
“The survey will continue till 5 pm. It is a scientific survey, different from an Advocates Commission survey. It is wrong to think that every day something new will be discovered since a detailed scientific study of structure and architecture is taking place,” Jain told reporters.
“When the ASI report comes, then we will know the conclusion. Everything will come in the ASI report. The survey of the entire campus, excluding sealed area, is being done,” he said.
Manju Vyas, one of the five Hindu plaintiffs in the case, expressed satisfaction with the ongoing court-ordered survey and said the ASI team is “doing its job well.”
The Muslim side had earlier warned they would boycott the entire exercise if "rumours" are spread that Hindu religious symbols and objects have been found.
Syed Mohammad Yasin, joint secretary of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, on Sunday alleged that a section of media on Saturday spread "rumours" that during the survey of the 'tahkhaanaa' (basement) on that day, idols, 'trishul' and 'kalash' were found. "If such acts are not contained, the Muslim side will once again boycott the survey work," he said.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the Allahabad High Court order on the ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque, an exercise that the Muslim side says will "reopen wounds of the past". The bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, however, asked the ASI not to carry out any invasive act during the survey.
