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A court here is likely to hear on Friday a plea seeking worship of 'Shivling' in the Gyanvapi mosque complex, Assistant District Government Counsel Sulabh Prakash said. On November 17, the fast-track court had rejected the Gyanvapi Masjid committee's objection to a petition seeking right to worship the 'Shivling' claimed to have been found in the mosque complex and fixed December 2 for hearing the case. Fast-track court Judge Mahendra Kumar Pandey found the petition filed by Kiran Singh worth hearing and fixed December 2 for taking up the matter, The court rejected the objection filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee questioning the maintainability of Singh's plea. The mosque committee had objected to the plea citing the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Act states that the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947, must be maintained. Prakash said lawyers of the Hindu side argued that the Waqf Act is not applicable t
The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday fixed December 5 for further hearing on a Gyanvapi masjid management's revision petition challenging a Varanasi court order on the maintainability of a plea seeking permission to offer regular prayers to idols of deities in the mosque complex. On Tuesday, the high court, after a brief hearing, had adjourned the hearing in the case till Wednesday. During the hearing on Wednesday, the counsel for the Hindu side argued that the case before the lower court was drafted honestly. He was arguing with the counsel for the Anjuman Intejamia Masjid, the Gyanvapi mosque management committee, who alleged that the case was cleverly drafted. The Hindu side counsel further submitted that the provisions of the Places of Worship Act would not apply in the present case. However, after a brief hearing, Justice J J Munir directed the matter to be heard next on December 5. The Gyanvapi mosque management committee had challenged the Varanasi court order rejecting its
A fast-track court on Monday postponed till November 17 its judgment on a plea seeking permission to allow the worship of a "Shivling" claimed to have been found inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex here. Civil Judge (senior division) Mahendra Pandey postponed the judgment till November 17, Assistant District Government Counsel Sulabh Prakash said. After hearing the arguments of both the sides to the dispute, the court had, on October 27, reserved its order on the suit for November 8. As the judge was on leave on November 8, the matter was posted for Monday. On May 24, plaintiff Kiran Singh, general secretary of the Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh, filed the suit in the Varanasi district court, seeking a ban on the entry of Muslims into the Gyanvapi complex, handing over of the complex to the Sanatan Sangh and permission to offer prayers to the "Shivling". On May 25, District Judge A K Vishvesh had ordered the transfer of the suit to the fast-track court. The Varanasi district magistrat
The Supreme Court on Friday extended till further orders the protection of the area where a 'Shivling' was stated to be found at the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex premises in Varanasi. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices Surya Kant and PS Narasimha allowed the Hindu parties to move an application before the Varanasi district judge for consolidation of all the lawsuit filed on the Gyanvapi row. It also directed the Hindu parties to file their replies within three weeks on the appeal filed by the management committee of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid challenging the Allahabad High Court order on the appointment of a survey commissioner. On May 17, the top court had passed an interim order directing the district magistrate of Varanasi to ensure protection of the area inside the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex where the 'Shivling' was said to be found in the survey. On May 20, the top court had transferred a civil suit filed by Hindu devotees on the Gyanvapi mosque fro
Taking forward his outreach to the Muslim community, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday visited a mosque and a madrassa here and held discussions with the chief of the All India Imam Organisation who termed him rashtra pita'. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh sarsangchalak' went to a mosque in central Delhi's Kasturba Gandhi Marg and followed it up with a visit to the Madarsa Tajweedul Quran in Azadpur in north Delhi. This is the first time he has visited a madrassa, an RSS official accompanying him said. All India Imam Organisation chief Umer Ahmed Ilyasi used the rashtra pita' descriptive for Bhagwat while talking to children at the madrassa. However, Bhagwat intervened to say there is only one father of the nation and said everyone is Bharat ki santan' (child of the nation), according to the RSS official. He said the RSS chief also spoke to the children about the need to know more about the nation and stressed that while the modes of worship could be different, all religions must
An Afghan medic says at least 18 people were killed and 21 wounded in a blast that tore through a crowded mosque in the western city of Herat. Mohammad Daud Mohammadi, an official at the Herat ambulance centre, said ambulances transported 18 dead and 21 wounded to hospitals in the city on Friday. The blast went off in the Guzargah Mosque in the western city of Herat during Friday noon prayers, the highlight of the Muslim religious week when places of worship are particularly crowded.