Gyanvapi Case Highlights: Hindu Women's Plea To Be Heard, Says Varanasi Court

Gyanvapi Case: 5 Big Quotes From The Varanasi Court Verdict
A court today agreed to hear a group of Hindu women who want year-long access to pray inside the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, next to the famous Kashi Viswanath temple. The judge looked at 3 Acts and said none bar the case of the Hindu women.

Earlier, the Hindu side had said that they will seek for Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey and carbon dating of 'Shivling' if the judgment comes in their favour.

What did the women petitioners say?
The five women want permission to perform Hindu rituals in a part of the mosque complex, saying a Hindu temple once stood on the site. Muslim petitioners had urged the court to throw out the petition

Gyanvapi Case Maintainable: Hindu Women's Plea To Be Heard, Says Court
The Gyanvapi mosque case is maintainable and the pleas filed by five Hindu women seeking the right to worship in the mosque will be heard, a court in Varanasi said today.

Security Strengthened In Varanasi Ahead Of Key Decision In Gyanvapi Case
Prohibitory orders have been clamped in the Varanasi commissionerate area and officers have been asked to interact with religious leaders in their respective areas to ensure that peace is maintained, according to Police Commissioner A Satish Ganesh. To maintain law and order, the entire city has been divided into sectors which have been allocated police force as required, he said, adding directives for flag march and foot march in sensitive areas have also been issued. Checking has been intensified in the district's border areas, hotels and guest houses, while an eye is being also kept on social media, the police officer said.

Carbon Dating To Be Next Demand, Says Advocate Representing Hindu Women
Advocate Vishnu Shanker Jain, representing the five Hindu women who filed the case pertaining to the Gyanvapi mosque, hopes the Supreme Court rules in their favour. The Places Of Worship Act, 1991 was cited by mosque committee and we put our arguments in the court scientifically, he said. We are saying that Vyas ji was being worshiped in the basement of the Gyanvapi mosque till 1993, Mr Jain contended, adding that their case is "very strong". If we win the case today, we will demand carbon dating to be done by conducting further survey of the pond used for "Wazoo", he said.

Gyanvapi Mosque Case: A Quick Rewind
In May, the Supreme Court assigned the Gyanvapi case to the Varanasi district judge's court, shifting it from a lower court where it was being heard till then. A month before the Supreme Court's intervention in the case, the Varanasi civil court had ordered the filming of the Gyanvapi mosque, based on the petition by the Hindu women who claim there are idols of Hindu Gods and goddesses in the Gyanvapi mosque complex.