oppn parties Gyanvapi Case: New Twist As A 'Shivling' Is Found In The Complex Pond

Story Of The Day

Assessee Not Responsible For Ensuring TDS Is Paid To The Government: Delhi HC
OPINIONS : Strongly Expressed

January 22, 2025

People Are Talking About

Rohit Warns Sarfaraz, Police Use It To Warn Two-Wheeler Riders

News Snippets

  • Sikh extremists attacked a cinema hall in London that was playing Kangana Ranaut's controversial film 'Emergency'
  • A Delhi court directed the investigating agencies to senstize officers to collect nail clippings, fingernail scrappings or finger swab in order to get DNA profile as direct evidence of sexual attack is often not present and might result in an offender going scot free
  • Uniform Civil Code rules cleared by state cabinet, likely to be implemented in the next 10 days
  • Supreme Court reiterates that there is no point in arresting the accused after the chargesheet has been filed and the investigation is complete
  • Kolkata court sentences Sanjoy Roy, the sole accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case, to life term. West Bengal government and CBI to appeal in HC for the death penalty
  • Supreme Court stays criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against home minister Amit Shah in Jharkhand during the AICC plenary session
  • Government reviews import basket to align it with the policies of the Trump administration
  • NCLT orders liquidation of GoAir airlines
  • Archery - Indian archers bagged 2 silver in Nimes Archery tournament in France
  • Stocks make impressive gain on Monday - Sensex adds 454 points to 77073 and Nifty 141 points to 23344
  • D Gukesh draws with Fabiano Caruana in the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands
  • Women's U-19 T20 WC - In a stunning game, debutants Nigeria beat New Zealand by 2 runs
  • Rohit Sharma to play under Ajinkye Rahane in Mumbai's Ranji match against J&K
  • Virat Kohli to play in Delhi's last group Ranji trophy match against Saurashtra. This will be his first Ranji match in 12 years
  • The toll in the Rajouri mystery illness case rose to 17 even as the Centre sent a team to study the situation
Calling the case not 'rarest of rare', a court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy, the only accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case to life in prison until death
oppn parties
Gyanvapi Case: New Twist As A 'Shivling' Is Found In The Complex Pond

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-05-16 13:26:30

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

As expected, the Gyanvapi survey issue is likely to snowball into a conflict between communities after the alleged discovery of a 'shivling' in the pond inside the complex. The survey team has said that a 'shivling' was found when the water was drained out of the pond that the devotees used for wudu (the purification process before namaz). A Varanasi court has ordered that the area where the 'shivling' was found is to be sealed until further orders.

It needs to be remembered that the plea before the Varanasi court had two issues - the first plea demanded that a portion in the complex which was open to Hindus for prayers once a year be opened throughout the year and the second demanded that Hindus be given the right to worship "visible and invisible deities inside the old temple complex". The very fact that the court had ordered a video-recorded survey for both the pleas was blatantly wrong - it should have out rightly junked the second plea as that amounted to changing the basic character of the place of worship and was against provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act  1991 (PWSPA).

Now, the alleged discovery of the 'shivling' has complicated matters. Although the sealing of the area, though it looks like a hasty and biased decision by the court, is good as that will prevent any untoward incident from taking place, the Supreme Court, which is slated to hear the pleas against the survey ordered by the Varanasi court, must now also look into the issues that arise after that alleged discovery. The PWSPA, which froze the character of places of worship in India as they existed on August 15, 1947 (except the Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi spot), was enacted precisely to prevent such things from happening. The Supreme Court will have to decide the matter as per the provisions of the said Act.

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Turmoil In Mollywood

Turmoil In Mollywood

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

In Depth

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Editor's Pick

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.