Alok Kumar, the international working president of the VHP on Sunday called for the start of worship in the disputed “Wazukhana” area.

Gyanvapi Mosque Issue: A day after the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanded that the Gyanvapi mosque structure in Varanasi be declared a Hindu temple and handed over to the Hindu community, Alok Kumar, the international working president of the VHP on Sunday called for the start of worship in the disputed “Wazukhana” area.

Alok Kumar, while speaking to the news agency ANI on Sunday, also urged the Muslim community to “respectfully shift the Gyanvapi mosque to another appropriate place” while handing over the original site to the Hindus for constructing a temple saying that the findings of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) leave no room for doubt that a temple was razed to build the mosque.

“With all the evidence from the ASI survey findings that has now come to the fore, there is no doubt that the mosque was raised on the ruins of a Hindu temple. The VHP has put forward two demands–the process of offering puja in the Wazukhana area should begin with due sanction from the court and the Intezamia Committee should also take due cognizance of the new report and respectfully shift the Gyanvapi mosque to another appropriate place while handing over the original site to the Hindu community,” he said.

In a post on X, the VHP shared the letter by Alok Kumar stating that the ‘Shivlinga’ in the ‘wazukhana’ area leaves no doubt that the structure does not have the character of a mosque. The discovery of the names including the Janardana, Rudra and Umeswara in the inscriptions found in the structure are the tell-tale evidence of this being a temple, he claimed in the letter.

“The evidence collected and the conclusions provided by the ASI do prove that the religious character of this place of worship existed on the 15th day of August 1947, and as at present is of a Hindu Temple. Thus, even as per Section 4 of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, the structure should be declared as a Hindu Temple,” he added.

“The VHP believes that this righteous action shall be an important step towards creating amicable relations between the two prominent communities of Bharat,” the VHP leader added.

However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) refuted the ASI survey, finding evidence of the existence of a temple after conducting a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises.

AIMPLB executive member Qasim Rasool Ilyas in a press statement said the report of the ASI is not “conclusive evidence” in this case.

The survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises began after the Allahabad High Court rejected the petition filed by Muslim litigants seeking a stay on the Varanasi court’s order for a scientific survey by the ASI and the Varanasi court, on Wednesday, directed for handing over the hard certified copies of the ASI report to the lawyers of the rival sides. Both Hindu and Muslim parties had sought copies of the ASI survey report.

(With ANI inputs)