New Delhi: A Varanasi court order regarding the Gyanvapi mosque issue was welcomed on Monday by a number of BJP leaders, including two Union ministers. The party's national secretary, Y Satya Kumar, called the ruling a "triumph of the truth."
On Monday, the Varanasi district court dismissed a claim that a petition filed by five Hindu women seeking approval for daily worship of gods whose idols are housed on the Gyanvapi mosque's exterior wall was unconstitutional.
Welcoming the order, Union minister Giriraj Singh said, "Kashi and Mathura are identities of our Sanatan culture. We respect the court order and appeal for peace from all sides."
BJP national secretary Y Satya Kumar said in a tweet, "Triumph of the Truth! The verdict of a Varanasi court declaring suit filed by the Hindu side for Gyanvapi mosque as maintainable is all due to the kripa of Mahadev! Har Har Mahadev."
Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Ashwini Kumar Choubey said, "Kashi and Mathura are the pride of our Sanatan Dharma. This decision is for the uplift of our culture."
Gautambuddh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma tweeted after the order, "Satyamev Jayate. truth alone triumphs) Har Har Mahadev."
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari sent out a cryptic tweet, saying Kashi was now "chanting bam bam" in praise of lord Shiva.
Earlier in the day, the Varanasi court rejected the plea questioning the maintainability of a petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque.
District Judge A K Vishvesh ordered it would continue to hear the petition seeking the right to worship deities on the outer wall of the mosque complex located close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
The court fixed September 22 as the next date of hearing in the case.
Merajuddin Siddiqui, the advocate representing the Muslim side, said they will move the Allahabad High Court against the judgement.
Union minister Giriraj Singh on Monday expressed elation over a Varanasi court rejecting a plea questioning the maintainability of a prayer seeking permission for Hindus to pray at the Gyanvapi complex.
"We are with the truth, just like we were in the case of Ayodhya," he said after the court ruled that it will continue to hear the petition.
"After India's partition, our places of worship were demolished and our women dishonoured in Pakistan. Congress had remained busy with the pursuit of power through a politics of appeasement. If Hindus are deprived of their rights in India, where will they go?" asked Singh.
The Union minister, who is also an MP from Begusarai, commended Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for ordering a survey of madrasas and asserted that it was needed in Bihar as well.
"But here we have a regime that pursues a politics of vote bank and appeasement," said Singh, known to be a detractor of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar even when the latter was in the NDA.
The JD(U) leader last month snapped ties with the BJP and joined the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) comprising RJD, Congress and the Left.
"We have no problems with the madrasas. But whether or not impressionable minds are being taught appropriate things at these seminaries needs to be known. But the government here is happy to convert the state into a PFI hub," the BJP leader alleged.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday welcomed the court decision in the Gyanvapi Masjid case in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
A Varanasi district on Monday said it will continue to hear a petition seeking daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi Masjid, dismissing the mosque committee's argument that the case is not maintainable.
The court rejected the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee's petition questioning the maintainability of the case, which has reignited the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Masjid dispute.
"It is a welcome decision. But everyone needs to be quiet now and let the courts do their work," Thakur told reporters.
He also expressed dismay at the condition of Kalyan-Dombivali here, which has been selected in the Centre's 'Smart City' scheme.
Incidentally, to avoid potholed roads, Thakur took a boat ride, party functionaries said.
Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation is part of the Lok Sabha constituency of Shrikant Shinde, the son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.
Thakur is on a three-day visit to Thane and Palghar as part of the BJP's outreach programme for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
With PTI inputs