gyanvapi: Videography survey of Gyanvapi Masjid complex held peacefully, to resume Sunday: Key points | India News

NEW DELHI: The court-appointed advocate commissioner resumed the survey and videography of the Gyanvapi mosque premises in Varanasi on Saturday, two days after a civil judge refused to change him and ordered that he submit his survey report by May 17.
A meeting of the two sides — the plaintiffs and respondents — was organised on Friday to finalise the survey plan. After the meeting, district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said, “As per the directive of the court, the survey will be conducted from 8am to 12 noon from Saturday. An appeal has been made to both sides to maintain peace and harmony.”
Here are the latest developments:
Elaborate security arrangements near Gyanvapi mosque
The Uttar Pradesh Police made security arrangements for ‘darshan’ of deity by devotees during the Gyanvapi Mosque survey. “There is a robust arrangement to ensure that the people don’t face any inconvenience, the darshan takes place well and everything goes on well,” said RS Gautam, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kashi Zone.
The survey began at 8am after the officials entered the underground cell and started videography.
Ahead of the survey, all the shops within the 500-meter radius of the area were kept shut.
Status of places of worship should not be changed, will lead to conflict: Congress
No attempt should be made to change the status of any place of worship as it would lead to huge conflict, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Saturday. It is to avoid such conflict that the Narasimha Rao government had passed the Places of Worship Act, he added. His remarks came a day after the Supreme Court refused to stay the inspection of the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi.
SC to hear plea of Gyanvapi mosque committee against survey
The Supreme Court is likely to hear next week the plea of the management of Gyanvapi mosque against the ongoing survey.
According to the order, uploaded on the apex court’s website on Saturday, the plea of the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the affairs of Gyanvapi mosque, would be heard by a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud.
The date of the proposed hearing has not been uploaded on the apex court’s website till now.
Owaisi questions ‘silence’ of opposition
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi questioned the “silence” of Opposition parties, including the Congress and SP, on the video survey, alleging that they are keeping mum because Muslims are not their vote bank.
Owaisi said the Constitution allows Muslims to follow their culture and identity and “we would continue to do so, both at home and outside”.
“Why opposition parties like Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party are silent on the issue of the Gyanvapi mosque? They are not saying anything because Muslims are not their vote bank,” the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimen (AIMIM) chief told an Eid Milap programme in Ahmedabad.