Gyanvapi row: Varanasi court ruled in 'haste', will pursue matter up to Supreme Court: AIMPLB

New Delhi: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Friday said the Varanasi district court’s decision to allow Hindu prayers in a cellar of Gyanvapi mosque was taken in ‘haste’ and it will now take up the matter right up to the Supreme Court.

Several prominent Muslim leaders also sent out a statement condemning the opening of the cellar and said they will approach the President and the Chief Justice of India. 

The AIMPLB said that the Places of Worship Act, 1991 should be implemented in letter and spirit to prevent disputes arising in the country.

“The court ruled on it in haste and the other (Muslim) side was not even given a chance to put forward its arguments in detail. This has hurt the confidence of minorities in the judiciary,” AIMPLB president Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said at a press conference in Delhi on Friday.

“In the Babri Masjid decision, it was accepted that the temple was not brought down to build a mosque but the decision was made in the favour of the other side on the basis of aastha (faith). Courts should rule on the basis of facts and not aastha,” he said.

A letter, which has been signed by Rahmani, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith Hind’s Maulana Asghar Ali Imam Mehdi, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s Malik Mohtashim Khan, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, Shahi Imam of the Fatehpuri Masjid Maulana Mufti Mukarram Ahmed, among others, has stated that they are concerned by the “abrupt initiation” of puja in celler of Gayanvapi mosque, which is marked by the overnight breaking of iron grills and placement of idols. 

“The swift initiation of this action, despite the court granting a seven-day window for the administration to make necessary arrangements, raises questions about apparent collusion between the administration and the plaintiff, attempting to foreclose any effort by the Mosque Managing Committee to pursue remedies against the District Court order,” the letter reads.

The letter also said that the district court should have given the mosque party an opportunity to appeal.

“The issue extends beyond the Gyan Vapi Masjid; baseless claims are persistently made on places of worship like the Shahi Eidgah of Mathura, the Sunheri Masjid Delhi along with numerous mosques and waqf properties across the country. This trend of unwarranted claims on various places of worship raises serious concerns. The continued silence on the Place of Worship Act 1991 by the Supreme Court has become a source of deep worry for the Muslim community in the country,” the Muslim leaders said.