Gyanvapi row: ‘Will leave destabilising effect..’, says Asad Owaisi on Varanasi court’s order

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi contested the Varanasi court’s decision to grant Hindu worshipers’ request for authorization to perform prayers to Hindu deities at the Gyanvapi Masjid complex.

Owaisi stated that he was afraid of what was occurring in the nation and implied that the order was contested and that the Anjuman Islamia Masjid Committee’s appeal shouldn’t have been turned down.

Owaisi acknowledged that what he had dreaded was manifesting right before his eyes and that the Varanasi court’s ruling would lead to discord and a slew of lawsuits with similar issues.

“Now, after today (Varanasi court’s order), a new cycle of litigation will begin,” Owaisi said while noting that the development would push society towards the ‘1980s and 1990s’.

“God forbid if we re-enter the ‘1980s and 1990s’, destabilisation will prevail,” the AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) chief said.

The senior lawmaker mentioned papers and submissions from the Muslim side during a news conference. He refuted the court’s ruling that the litigation brought by Hindu petitioners was not prohibited under the Places of Worship Act.

“I thought they would deal with the suit as they say in English — nip it in the bud — but now I feel that the course of the trial will develop as it did in the Babri Masjid case,” Owaisi said.

Owaisi expressed his disappointment over the court’s order wherein judge Vishvesh said that the suit, filed by Hindu petitioners, is not barred by The Places of Worship Act.

“What is the relevance of The Places of Worship Act? During the Babri Masjid judgement, the Supreme Court held that the status quo, after August 15, 1947, shall be maintained. But now they are saying that the matter is not barred by the Act. Now, see how cases will increase on the subject,” Owaisi said.

This followed the court’s ruling that the Act did not put any restrictions on the action asserting the right to worship idols placed in the endowment, on the temple’s property, or outside. 

“What will be its effect on the country?” Owaisi said while adding, “The aftermath will be such that destabilising effects will be on the rise.”

This followed the court’s ruling that the Act did not put any restrictions on the action asserting the right to worship idols placed in the endowment, on the mosque’s property, or outside.