NEW DELHI: In the backdrop of Allahabad high court‘s order allowing a suit seeking the right to worship at the Gyanvapi complex and “restoration” of temple at the site in Varanasi, the Jamiat Ulama -i- Hind (JUH), in consultation with other stakeholders, will move the Supreme Court to challenge the directive.
While sharing the Muslim side’s plan to approach the SC, Maulana Arshad Madani, who leads one of the two JUH factions, said that he hopes such issues in Kashi and Mathura would not arise in light of the Places of Wors-hip (Special Provisions) Act of 1991.He reiterated Jamiat’s stand that status quo as of 1947 under the 1991 law must be observed.
“We will go as far as the law allows us to go,” he asserted. On the recent decision of allowing survey of Gyanvapi Masjid, Maulana Madani said “we have no objection to the survey. We believe that if the survey is conducted honestly, nothing will come out of it.”
“But the way this new controversy has been raised is against the 1991 law passed by Parliament on the Protection of Places of Worship, in which it has been clearly stated that no such controversy will be raised in any place of worship except the Babri Masjid, which has been in existence since 1947. After the enactment of the Places of Worship Act, we had hoped that no issue on any mosque would arise but communal-minded forces did not allow this and they started raising the issue of Gyanvapi mosque and Idgah of Mathura,” he added.
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