Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri case: Plea alleges Hindu symbols in complex being destroyed

One of the petitioners in Varanasi's Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri case on Wednesday filed a plea in the district court here accusing the Muslim side of destroying Hindu symbols and demanding protection of the complex.

The petition was filed in the court of District Judge Ajay Krishna Vishwesh on Wednesday, senior government counsel Rajesh Mishra said.

The court has fixed August 4 for hearing the matter, Mishra said.

This comes as the Allahabad High Court is scheduled to pronounce its order on Thursday on a plea against a Varanasi district court order directing the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque was built on a temple.

Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh chief Jitendra Singh Bisen said that in the petition, Rakhi Singh has accused the Muslim side of destroying Hindu symbols on the Gyanvapi premises and demanded protection of the entire complex in order to ensure that these symbols are not lost.

The entry of Muslims into Gyanvapi should be banned immediately so that the work of archaeological survey can be done without any hindrance, Bisen said.

Rakhi Singh is also one of the founder members of Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh.

Meanwhile, the secretary of the Intezamia Masjid Committee, Mohammad Yasin, said that they have not yet received a copy of the new petition.

"Once we receive the copy of the petition, our legal team will prepare its reply," he said.

Rakhi Singh is one of the five Hindu women plaintiffs who filed the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case, seeking permission for worship at Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal.

The Allahabad High Court had on July 27 reserved till August 3 its verdict on a plea against the ASI survey. Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker also ordered that the stay on the ASI survey will continue till August 3.

The high court was hearing the plea filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the mosque.

It had moved the high court on July 25, a day after the Supreme Court halted the ASI survey till 5 pm on July 26, allowing time for the mosque management committee to appeal against the lower court's order.

A Varanasi court had earlier directed the ASI to conduct the survey, including excavations, wherever necessary, to determine if the mosque was built at a place where a temple existed earlier.