Hindu seers in Haridwar welcome court order on survey inside Varanasi-based Gyanvapi mosque

Haridwar: Haridwar-based Hindu seers have welcomed the court's decision to allow survey inside the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple. The court had ordered an inspection of the mosque in April this year on petitions by five Hindu women asking for year-long access to pray at a Hindu shrine behind the western wall of the mosque complex. Presently, the site is opened for prayers once a year.

Seers in Haridwar have called the court decision "a step forward in solving the dispute over it". Meanwhile, Muslim clerics are not happy with the order. They say it would "further complicate the issue and worsen the communal situation in the country". Jamia Ulema state chief Maulana Muhammad Arif said, "Such actions go against the Places of Worship Act passed in 1991." He alleged that "one action after another disruptive of peace is being committed only to divert attention from the main issues confronting the society." However, Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad president Swami Ravindra Puri (of Niranjani Akhara) rejected Arif's claims saying, "The court decision will pave the way for the solution of a long-pending dispute and boost communal harmony."

Shankaracharya Rajarajeshwarashram of Haridwar-based Jagat Guru Ashram also echoed the sentiments of Swami Ravindra Puri. He said that the court has delivered a "practical and impartial judgement".

Maulana Sharafat Ali, principal of Madrasa Darul Uloom Asadia, Ikkad (Haridwar) also rejected Arif's cynicism about the court order. He said, "The court verdict is good and must be welcomed. Nothing good will come of disobeying court orders."

Meanwhile, Mahamandaleshwar Harichetananand of Hari Seva Ashram also welcomed the development. "We can now hope that the campus will be handed over to Hindus, removing an impediment in the way of social and communal harmony."