Seers to launch Ram Mandir-like movement for Kashi Vishwanath

Lucknow: The seer community is slated to launch a Ram Mandir-like movement to ‘liberate’ the entire Kashi Vishwanath complex in Varanasi and other temples in the town, which were ‘demolished’ during the Muslim rule.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the seers under the auspices of Shree Adi Mahadev Kashi Dharmalaya Mukti Trust at the ongoing Maha Kumbh on Sunday.

‘’Kashi (the old name of Varanasi) is our heritage ... we will remove all obstacles in the way of restoring its old glory on the lines of the Ram Janmabhoomi,’’ Sumeru Peethadheeshwar Shankaracharya Swami Narendrananda Sarswati said after the meeting.

The seers also demanded that Kashi be declared ‘Sanatan Dharm Nagar’.

Speaking at the meeting, the seers demanded that many other temples in Kashi, including the Bindu Madhav Temple, Lat Bhairav, Vakrakrk Kund, and some others, were demolished by the Muslim rulers.

They also said that the government should ban loudspeakers, remove graveyards, mazars (tombs), mosques and slaughterhouses from the ‘panchkosi marg’ (the road used by the Hindu devotees for going around a religious place).

The seers also said that the idols of ‘Shirdi Sai’ should be removed from the temples immediately.

The Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque case is currently pending in the Varanasi district court. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had conducted a scientific survey of the contentious Gyanvapi Mosque premises and submitted the survey report in the district court earlier.

The premises has been a bone of contention between the two communities for the past several decades. The Hindu petitioners claim that a part of the temple had been demolished by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century. The Muslim side contends that the Mosque existed before the reign of Aurangzeb.