JOIN USGyanvapi Mosque gives land for Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor
In a significant development amid the ongoing legal tussle between Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board which takes care of the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, the latter has given one thousand square feet of land for the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in an exchange deal.
According to the officials, the Board was given land measuring one thousand square feet in the Bans Phatak area in the town, which was not very far from the corridor.
Sources said that the land, which was given to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, was very close to the Temple and was turning out to be an 'obstacle' in the way of the corridor, which was inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi in 2019 for beautification of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
"The land was needed for setting up a control room for the Kashi Vishwanath Temple," said an official in Varanasi.
The development assumes significance as it comes amid the ongoing legal tussle between the two parties over ownership of the Temple and Mosque.
A court in Varanasi had, on a petition by Vijay Shankar Rastogi, ordered for an archaeological survey of the premises. The court had directed the ASI to form a five member team and study the entire premises. The petitioner had contended that the entire premises belonged to the Kashi Vishwanath and that the Gyanvapi Mosque was only a part of the Temple
Rastogi had sought the court's direction for resolving the issue through survey by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) claiming that the Mosque had been constructed after demolishing the Temple.
The Sunni Central Waqf Board, which is the opposite party in the matter, plans to challenge the decision in the higher court.
The premises had been a bone of contention between the two communities for the past several decades but there was renewed clamor to "take back" the Kashi Vishwanath Temple premises by the saffron outfits after the favourable decision of the apex court in the Ram Temple case.
Some saffron leaders had even threatened to demolish what they termed the 'blots' on the rich history of Hinduism and must be 'removed' without delay.
A district court in Mathura was also hearing a civil suit claiming ownership of the entire land on which the Srikrishna Janmabhoomi was situated and seeking removal of the Shahi Idgah Mosque.