In the early hours of February 1st, Hindu devotees were granted permission to hold a prayer session in the crypt-like basement of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, situated in north India; an event that had not been witnessed for over thirty years. The local judicial system had permitted a legal application by the Hindu community to proceed with this religious act.
Erected in the 17th century under the rule of Emperor Aurangzeb, the mosque has been at the centre of much controversy. Hindu nationalists have consistently questioned the mosque’s origin, suggesting that the site previously housed a temple to the Hindu god, Shiva, which they believe was destroyed by the reigning Muslim Mughal Empire at the time. These days, Hindus and Muslims live and worship in close quarters, with only a narrow alleyway segregating the mosque from the Kashi Vishwanath Hindu temple, reconstructed in 1780.
This sacred precinct found within a heavily guarded enclosure, under the surveillance of heavily armed troops and law enforcement, is one of the most contentious shared religious sites located outside of the Middle East. It mirrors conflicts in Jerusalem at al-Aqsa mosque and the Western Wall where Palestinian Muslims and Israeli Jews perform their religious duties simultaneously.
The Gyanvapi mosque is at the heart of an impassioned legal battle initiated by Hindu nationalists. Their main objective is to recover worship space at locations where, historically, Muslim rulers are alleged to have destroyed temples to make way for mosques. The outcome of this issue will undoubtedly impact religious dialogue, social harmony, and the future state of secular democracy in the world’s most densely populated nation.
Hindu revivalism, along with the temple “reclamation” movement, is set to play a crucial role in the forthcoming national elections in India, scheduled to take place between April 19th and June 1st.
Narendra Modi’s political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is projected to quell opposition from the fragmented Indian National Congress and secure a third consecutive term of five years.
Earlier this year, in January, Modi attended the inauguration of a new vast temple located where the 16th-century Babri mosque once stood in Ayodhya. The mosque is believed to have been constructed atop a previous Hindu religious site. In a historical milestone for the BJP’s Hindu nationalist politics, religious extremists demolished the mosque in 1992.
Currently, two other significant shared religious sites are on the nationalists’ radar. This raises the possibility of more profound, community-based discord erupting in other parts of India across the country’s main religious fault line.
Court cases initiated by Hindu claimants seeking to dismantle ancient mosques, not only in the northern city of Mathura – a place sacred to Hindus due to its association with Lord Krishna’s birth – but also in Varanasi, the location of the Kashi Vishwanath complex, are on the rise. The motivation behind these legal challenges, as professed by Hindu nationalists, is to reaffirm the eminence of Hinduism, a faith followed by around 80% of India’s massive 1.4 billion population. The intensified pursuit is aimed at “decolonising” an India that, in their belief, has been tainted by sequential Muslim and British rule.
“This is not a legal battle but a fight to revive our culture, honour our glorious past and regain our deity’s rights,” explains Vishnu Shankar Jain, an attorney representing Hindu litigants in Mathura and Varanasi suits. However, this ongoing tussle over shared sacred spaces is viewed by a majority of India’s roughly 200 million Muslims as an infringement of their liberties by a governing body that they believe prioritises Hinduism above all other faiths and is determined to erase all non-Hindu elements, specifically Mughal heritage, from history.
These disturbances were heightened this year as two mosques – one in Delhi, established six centuries ago, and another in northern Uttarakhand – were demolished for alleged illegal “encroachment”. Moreover, in Varanasi, a place regarded as one of the most disputed holy sites outside the Middle East, Hindus and Muslims worship side by side.
The Gyanvapi mosque, constructed in the 17th century at the site of a previous Shiva temple, stands merely steps away from the Kashi Vishwanath Hindu temple. These disagreements concerning archaeological findings, historical validity and religious practices are key to greater deliberation concerning India’s multicultural composition and constitutional rights, specifically under a ruling party known for endorsing Hindu sovereignty.
“This acts as a catalyst for igniting emotionally charged matters, solidifying divisions,” professes Zoya Hasan, an esteemed history professor at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. “This Hindu-Muslim disagreement is kept alive to rally Hindu majority votes and reduce Muslims to less significant positions.”
‘Climate of dread’/
The ongoing attempts to redeem Hindu holy locations, which were razed by Muslim rulers in ancient times, is a foreign concept outside of India. Presently, there’s a legal battle between Muslim and Hindu contenders that has become exceedingly emotive, with political figures citing divinities and some of the deities even listed in legal requests.
Gyanvapi, a disputed site, became accessible for Hindu petitioners to perform prayers within its underground chamber following a controversial archaeological excavation by the government which discovered damaged idols beneath the mosque. This discovery served as evidence of a temple that stood there prior. For generations, Hindus believed in this narrative, hence there’s an idol of Nandi, Lord Shiva’s bull, facing Gyanvapi. Muslims on the other hand, purport that the space was utilised as a fountain for ritual cleansing.
According to Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas, a Hindu priest who avers that his lineage has been conducting prayers at this site for many centuries, the court’s approval to commence worship was like a dream turned reality. Furthermore, the news of the metal grille being removed from the underground chamber’s entrance spread rapidly through WhatsApp messages, leading to a surge of Hindu devotees who thronged the site to capture photographs.
Meanwhile, not far from there in Azad Park, a predominantly Muslim community in Varanasi was gripped with fear that their mosque was endangered due to ongoing Hindu prayers at the cellar. Abdul Batin Nomani, the mosque’s spiritual leader, recalled the palpable dread that pervaded the area during the night. A solicitor representing the Muslim party, Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, promptly filed an emergency appeal at the supreme court.
Muslim apprehensions were seemingly justified in the wake of these events, particularly since Varanasi, similar to Ayodhya and Mathura, is part of Uttar Pradesh, an Indian state with the largest population and a stronghold of the BJP – India’s leading party. Yogi Adithyanath, Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister who’s touted as a potential successor to Prime Minister Modi, lauded the removal of the barricading at Gyanvapi mosque, attributing the act as the will of Shiva’s bull during a state assembly in Lucknow.
In 2019, the apex court of India approved the construction of a temple in Ayodhya, marking a significant boost to Hindutva revivalism. This decision came nearly three decades after the demolition of the Babri mosque and followed a lengthy legal battle by Hindu nationalists coupled with an archaeological investigation.
Archaeological findings and accounts from the British colonial period back up claims by Hindu nationalists that medieval Muslim rulers demolished Indian temples to erect their majestic domes in locations like Kashi, the Hindu term for Varanasi, and Mathura. Despite the presence of these structures, Hindus reconstructed their temples adjacent to them and continued their religious rituals at original sites like the south cellar of Gyanvapi, like the Vyas family in Varanasi.
“Regardless of the obstacles, Hindus kept alive the memory of these original sites and constantly strived to reclaim them,” states Meenakshi Jain, a former history professor at Delhi University’s Gargi College, and the writer of books on Kashi and Mathura, who holds no association with the advocate.
However, for many secularists and Muslims in India, protecting minority religious rights and upholding the legal right to worship, not the historical precedence of religious communities, is of utmost importance.
In response to the Ayodhya dispute and growing tensions, India, under a Congress-led administration, enacted the Places of Worship Act in 1991. This act effectively barred similar disputes (excluding Ayodhya), maintaining the religious status of sites as they were in August 1947, at the time of Indian independence.
The legislation came into effect amid unrest over the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, which was destroyed a year later, sparking severe communal violence in Mumbai and other parts, resulting in a death toll of at least 1,000. A prior Uttar Pradesh state government, led by the Samajwadi Party, known to be favourable to Muslim voters, prohibited Hindus from performing ‘pujas’ in Gyanvapi’s cellar in 1993.
The temple movement has gained ground since the BJP’s national victory in 2014, only to reinforce its momentum with the Supreme court’s verdict on Ayodhya in 2019. Numerous civil cases for surveys in Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque and Mathura have now been lodged by Hindu litigants, vying to overturn an agreement regarding the shared complex between Hindus and Muslims.
Hindu Nationalist groups traditionally follow a set pattern: they assert the presence of temple remnants beneath a mosque and then petition the courts to conduct an archaeological survey. According to academic Hasan, this almost always results in the discovery of ancient temple remains, providing a legal justification for their claims. Once proven, they attempt to seize ownership of the site.
One notable instance of this was the construction of a grand temple dedicated to Lord Ram in Ayodhya, in place of the Babri mosque that was destructed by Hindu extremists in 1992. This aims to reinstate the believed ancient temple and is a key objective of India’s Hindu nationalists.
Recent years have seen Narendra Modi, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, overseeing the consecration of the new Ram Mandir shrine, attracting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims daily. It’s argued by analysts that with a supportive government and judicial system, current circumstances don’t necessitate the sort of mob violence seen in the past.
The lawyer Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have been vocal in their efforts to bring back Hindu worship at mosque sites in the cities of Varanasi and Mathura. They served as legal advisors on several lawsuits filed in 2020-21 and 2022 seeking the demolition of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura. Their argument from their office, adorned with Hindu religious icons, is that these mosques were incorrectly built on sacred Hindu temple sites.
The petition permitting Hindus to conduct prayers in the basement of Gyanvapi was put forward by the Vyas family. In a separate action, five Hindu women affiliated with nationalistic circles have submitted a request to offer prayers within the Gyanvapi mosque complex. Jain claims his efforts are independent, stating “We are unaffiliated individuals addressing this issue, free from any ties to the governing party.”
Legal counsel for the Muslim community in Varanasi are undertaking efforts to contest these developments in court. Ayyubi, a legal representative for Muslim litigants in both Gyanvapi and Mathura finds these developments surprising and distressing given the growth and technological advancements of the year 2023-4. He comments, “It’s a bewildering and saddening progression. The mosque has stood for nearly four centuries.”
The litigation concerning Ayodhya extended over a long period but recent events are accelerating. Hindus were permitted to pray in the Gyanvapi basement on the evening of January 31st. Devotees were observed praying just hours after the ruling was passed, leaving no room for the Muslim community to file an appeal.
Ayyubi contrasts this situation with that of Babri, stating “There was ample time granted for all parties in Babri. Now, there’s a sense of urgency.”
At a recent visit to the complex, Gulshan Kapoor, head of a committee formed to ‘free’ a Hindu shrine located at the rear of Gyanvapi, indicated what he perceived to be remnants of Hindu temple architecture embedded within the mosque’s boundary walls. He maintains “The walls of the mosque are essentially the original temple’s walls.”
The group helmed by Kapoor has circulated a brochure concerning the site, containing an artist’s conceptualisation of a future temple. On inquiring about his vision for the site, Kapoor responded unequivocally: “The mosque will need to be relocated in order to construct our temple.”
A second jointly-held religious site exists in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. Valued by Hindus as the birthplace of Lord Krishna, the Shahi Idgah mosque was built there by India’s Muslim invaders. In 1968, an agreement was reached between Hindus and Muslims regarding the shared use of the site, although it remains a site of potential tension.
Nestled amidst Mathura’s heart, the Krishna Janmasthan Hindu temple complex houses the 17th-century Shahi Idgah mosque. According to Hindu beliefs, this site is the birthplace of Lord Krishna, thought to be in a prison cell. In 1968, an agreement was forged to dedicated separate prayer areas for Hindus and Muslims.
Vigilant security forces keep a close watch, obliging visitors to deposit electronic devices, bags, and various other possessions. This includes, on one occasion, a notebook and pen, owing to the guard’s concern over potential map drawing.
Hindu litigants are presently pursuing the mosque’s legal declaration as null and void through a lawsuit, a concept that is firmly ingrained in Indian jurisprudence. They attest that the site rightfully belongs to Lord Krishna, as maintained by Mahendra Pratap Singh, the Hindu claimant responsible for the inaugural case. In the event of the lawsuit bearing fruit, his plan is to erect a temple.
According to Tanveer Ahmed, a legal practitioner representing Muslims looking for safeguarding from any modifications at the site under the Places of Worship Act, these developments only emerged in 2020 following the filing of an external petition. He attributes the legal contest to the 2019 court decision that sanctioned the construction of the Ayodhya temple, linking the initiation of this dispute to the completion of the Ayodhya temple.
Recent statements from members of the Modi government have portrayed the inauguration of the Ayodhya temple in January as ushering in a new epoch. This was followed by a resolution of commendation by India’s BJP-controlled lower house and Interior Minister, Amit Shah, announcing 22nd of January, being the date of the temple’s opening, would be noted as a historical day for centuries.
If Modi’s BJP party secures a third term with a robust majority, there is a rising apprehension among Indian liberals that this might accelerate the nationalists’ quest to “retrieve” shared Hindu-Muslim spiritual venues.
At the mosque-temple complex in Mathura, a security officer reflects on the importance of interfaith unity. “The majority of Indians are unaware of their basic rights. Every individual is entitled to exercise their faith as they choose, and it is incumbent upon the authorities to uphold this prerogative,” she suggests. Regularly, she continues, she is confronted with inquiries along the lines of, “when will that structure [the mosque] be demolished?” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024.