In a major development, a Varanasi District Court has given its approval for an archaeological survey to be conducted at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex. The court was hearing a petition filed by a local lawyer VS Rastogi.

Rastogi had filed a petition demanding that the land entailing Gyanvapi Mosque be restored to Hindus as the mosque had been constructed in 1664 by Aurangzeb after destroying the 2000-year-old Kashi Vishwanath Temple that stood at the present site of the mosque.

The court ordered the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) to conduct a survey of the mosque overruling the objections raised by the Gyanvyapi Mosque management committee. The court has also said that the expenses of the survey to be conducted at the said site are to be undertaken by the government.

This move gains significance considering the fact that the country’s apex court had recently agreed to examine the validity of the 1991 Places of Worship Act which is one of the major impediments in reclaiming Hindu temple land where mosques were constructed by invaders after destroying ancient Hindu temples that stood at those sites.

(Featured Image Source: India TV)

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