BJP: Back to ‘Mandir’ for Mandate 2024?

The legal battles over the disputed shrines in Kashi and Mathura have of late gained momentum. The Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will also be inaugurated in January - just a few weeks before the parliamentary polls.

After the Supreme Court’s November 2019 verdict in the Ram-Janmbhoomi-Babri-Mosjid title suit had gone in favour of the Hindu plaintiffs, the Sangh Parivar’s celebratory war cry “Ayodhya to bas jhanki hai, Kashi-Mathura baki hai (Ayodhya was just a trailer, Kashi and Mathura are coming next)” had dropped ample hints about the things to come. As the legal battle over the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi (Kashi) has gained momentum over the past couple of years, the BJP now appears to be ready to make the most of the rows over places of worship in the country.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is now conducting a survey of the entire Gyanvapi Mosque premises barring the ‘wuzukhana’, where the devotees wash their hands and feet before proceeding to offer prayers. The Allahabad High Court rejected the petition filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) seeking a stay on the Varanasi District Judge’s July 21 order.

The High Court observed that the survey was necessary in the interest of justice. It also said that ''as the proceeding of the Suit has been lingering on for long, it would be appropriate to observe that the court concerned shall make all endeavour to conclude the proceedings expeditiously without granting unnecessary adjournments to either of the parties by giving short dates''.

The dispute stems from the claim of the Hindu plaintiffs that the Gyanvapi Mosque had been built after demolishing a part of the Kashi Vishwanath temple on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17^th century. The Muslim side dismisses the claim and insists that the mosque had existed before the reign of Aurangzeb.

The ASI will submit its findings to the court in due course. But the lawyers for the Hindu plaintiffs could not wait and had already made claims that signs of a Hindu temple had been found in the survey.

Even Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, virtually endorsed the claims (of the Hindu litigants, saying: “Those who have been given sight by the God should see...What's a trident doing inside a mosque?... We didn't keep it there...The walls (of Gyanvapi) are screaming...There is Jyotirlinga, there are many idols”.

He also suggested that the Muslims should give up their claim on the Gyanvapi Mosque. He said that the Muslim community should acknowledge that “a historical mistake” had been committed and that it should be 'corrected'.

As expected the Hindu seers welcomed Yogi Adityanath's remarks saying that the fight for Gyanvapi had been lingering for quite long and that the Muslims should take the initiative.

Mumtaz Ahmed, a lawyer for the Muslim petitioners, said that a section of the media had been “spreading rumours” that “idols, trident and pitcher” had been found in the cellar of the mosque during the ASI survey. The AIMC also moved the court seeking a ban on such coverage.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer for the Hindu plaintiffs, claimed that the signs like ‘swastika’ and others were found during the earlier videographic survey of the mosque indicating that it was a temple.

The chief cleric of the shrine, Abdul Batin Nomani, however, said that it would always remain a mosque.

The BJP leaders are optimistic about the ASI survey proving  that the  Gyanvapi Mosque had been built after demolishing a part of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. They hope to reap the political dividends of the row in the 2024 parliamentary polls. The leaders of the opposition parties, however, preferred to tread cautiously. Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya said that all should wait for the court verdict and avoid making comments that could disturb communal harmony.

“(The) Kashi Vishwanath Temple is revered by millions of Hindus and so it is going to be a big issue,’’ said J P Shukla, an analyst based in Lucknow.

The legal battle over the Shri-Krishna-Janmbhoomi-Shahi-Idgah-Mosque in Mathura also gained momentum of late, with the High Court on May 27 this year transferring to itself all the cases related to the dispute.