Amid the fresh outrage over the Gyanvapi mosque, what comes surprising is the role of courts that are fermenting the chaos by entertaining the petitions sneakily passed by the Hindutva elements.
The petition entertained by the Allahabad court in Gyanvapi Mosque seeking seizure of the fountain area gives a deeper insight into the debate over the nexus between the Hindutva elements and the authorities working inside the sanctum and santorum of the judiciary.
From the order being passed in 1986 by the district court in Uttar Pradesh to the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya almost five years later everything hints at the growing nexus between Hindutva elements and the authorities smarting under Islamophobia. It was this order that helped bring a snowball effect and led to the demolition of the mosque. Interestingly, a Muslim judge too observed the same in a judgment in the Ayodhya case in 2010.
“It is this order that led to the opening of bolted locks of the Babri Masjid which fomented that dispute at the national level if not internationally. Earlier, no one beyond Ayodhya and Faizabad heard of such dispute,” he observed in the judgment.
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This statement encapsulated a pattern in other disputes pertaining to religious sites that include Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, The Qutb Minar In Delhi, the Kamal-ud-Din mosque in Madhya Pradesh and the Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura. In all these cases the courts, especially at lower level have played a key role in fermenting the chaos.
THE BABRI PLOT
To begin with, the first such idiosyncrasy was witnessed at Ayodhya. Only a couple of priests were allowed to perform religious rites inside the mosque when an idol of Hindu deity was mysteriously placed inside the Babri masjid in 1949. The public were allowed to watch off from a grill.
Later, an advocate filed an appeal in a local court of Faizabad led by Judge KN Pandey on January 31 in the year 1986. Surprisingly, the appeal was not only entertained the next day after filing, the judge was pleased to instruct opening of gates for Hindus worshippers. Without wasting a single minute after passing the order the gates of Babri Masjid were thrown open for the Hindu devotees.
More surprising is that the primary locus standees were not given a straight dope over the proceedings except one who too was not allowed to implead in the case. In their absence, the district magistrate and the superintendent of police presented in the court said that there would be no problem in unlocking the mosque gates.
During the year 2010 while hearing the case, the Justice SU Khan was expressed shock at the chain of events wherein an appeal was filed by a ‘stranger’ and ‘not maintainable’ while the impleadment of one of the parties was wrongly declined because of which there was ‘no one to oppose the appeal.’
“There was no reason to show ‘such undue state,’” he observed.
THE CONSPIRACY RETURN
The new controversy over Gyanvapi mosque grapples the country into chaos with two similar cases pending in the civil courts of Varanasi filed by the Hindutva elements claiming the right over the Gyanvapi mosque of Moghal era.
Out of the two cases in Varanasi civil court, first was filed in the year 1991 by the devotees of Swayambhu Lord Vishweshwar claiming that the Gyanvapi mosque land was actually occupied by a temple, hence, permission should be granted to worship at the site.
While hearing the case in 1997, the court observed that certain portions of the plea were barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The act was actually passed during the Ayodhya temple movement and provided for the religious character of the place as it existed on August 15, 1947 to be maintained.
Observing that these issues could not be decided without proper evidence being collected, a district judge while hearing an appeal, set aside this order in September 1998. However, the Allahabad High Court later granted stay on the matter which was in force until 2020.
Though the plaintiffs filed fresh application based on the supreme court’s judgement in the year 2018 that stay cannot remain in force for more than six months unless it was expressly extended, the Allahabad High court stayed the proceedings again in February 2020 followed by reserving the judgment in March 2020.
Later on, the civil court began hearing the matter again and ordered the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a survey to determine whether or not a temple existed at the site of Babri mosque.
Five months later, the Allahabad High Court took umbrage at the civil court for its order and stayed the directions for a survey by the archaeological department.
It goes on without saying that a second petition was filed before a civil court in Varanasi in the Month of August 2021 even though a case was already pending before the Allahabad High Court. Coincidently, this is again to seek a right to perform rituals in the Gyanvapi complex – and to preserve few of the idols of Shringar Gauri, Ganesh and Hanuman and other visible and invisible deities, similar to the one sought in Babri Masjid case. Subsequently, the court appointed Ajay Kumar as an advocate commissioner and entrusted him with a task to carry out the videography of the mosque before submitting a report. This is despite the Muslim side protested Kumar’s appointment as his name was suggested by the plaintiffs.
However, the court declined to replace him and appointed two more advocate commissioners as amicus curiae to assist Kumar to accomplish his task. Taking a tough stand, the court even directed the district administration to break the locks if required and register FIRs against those found causing problems at the scene.
The former Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Amar Saran was reportedly told the Quint that the survey ordered by the court is in contravention of the Places of Worship Act which prohibits even attempts to convert a place of worship. “Thus, the lower courts are complicit in perpetrating an illegality,” he held.
Meanwhile, even before the report was submitted, a hearing was called on Monday in the absence of mosque representatives wherein the court took note of the Hindu petitioner’s submission that a shivling was found in the water tank. Based on this submission, the court ordered that a portion of the Gyanvapi mosque be sealed while allowing only 20 Muslims to pray in the mosque.
Later, the mosque representatives contested the claim saying that the structure is actually a fountain. Interestingly the advocate commissioner was removed for leaking information to the press.
Earlier in the month of April, the Muslims had challenged the videography survey of the mosque but the Allahabad High Court rejected their plea saying that the court orders hardly decides anything and largely perform in a very process oriented manner that would lead to a report of local inspection.
Meanwhile, the Gyanvapi mosque management committee filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court order. The Supreme Court on April 17, has ordered revocation of any restrictions on Muslims entering the mosque. However, it upheld the direction to protect the structure in question found during the survey.
THE MATHURA ANGLE
More complex situation is yet to come with the Mathura case having more than a dozen cases in several local courts and mainly in Allahabad High Court. Here Hindus claim that the mosque was built at the birthplace of Hindu god Krishna. Similar to other cases, the Hindus seek possession of the land and the right to worship within the mosque.
Based on the recent court orders in the Gyanvapi mosque case, several petitioners too seek a similar video survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura that the mosque carries the remains of Hindu Idols while the Muslims are denying excavating the same. Again, on May 18, a local court in Mathura agreed to entertain the case.
The Qutb Minar
Another controversy is brewing at Madhya Pradesh where Hindus claim Qutb Minar as a temple of the goddess Saraswati called Bhojshala while Muslims are affirm that predominantly it is a mosque. Last month, the High Court in Madhya Pradesh issued a notice after a petition filed by Hindutva group challenging the order of Archaeological Survey of India in the year 2003 asking Hindus and Muslims to use the Kamal-ud-Din mosque on different occasions.
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Saket Court in Delhi will hear a case relating to the Qutb Minar. Hindus alleged that the mosque inside the monument was built after trampling several Hindu and Jain temples. The case was first heard in November 2021 wherein the civil court rejected the appeal saying that wrongs in the past cannot be the basis for disturbing the peace of our present and future.”
Meanwhile, a Mathura court today ruled that the suit to remove the Shahi Idgah Mosque on the ground that it was built over Krishna Janmabhoomi land is maintainable.
While overturning a civil court order dismissing the suit, the District court while hearing the case has maintained that “Right to sue of the plaintiff will stand restored. Case will be restored at its original number.”
In September 2020, a civil court had dismissed the suit citing the bar on admitting the case under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
However, this decision was challenged before the Mathura district court by the Hindutva elements. While entertaining the matter, district judge Rajeev Bharti overturned the civil court order dismissing the suit.
In the light of the above said precedents wherein court have been found encouraging communal forces allowing them to flare up the communal tension by accepting their baseless and biased pleas that only bring chaos in a more vibrant democracy on the globe.
