Kashi Vishwanath Temple gets Gyanvapi mosque land for corridor project

Lucknow: The Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi gave a piece of land owned by it to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, in exchange for a plot owned by the latter, reports The Indian Express. The trust had sought Masjid's land some years ago for the temple corridor project here.

The Masjid's plot is located nearly 15 metres from the Masjid complex and measures 1,700 square feet in the expanse. But the one which was exchanged for is only 1000 square feet though equal in value. Also, the plot the mosque received is not connected to it and is separate.

The Masjid's caretaker told The Indian Express that mosque owned three plots of land in which the first one houses the mosque itself. The second one is the common passage between the two places of worship, and the third was lent to the district administration to build a police control room for security for both areas of worship during the Babri Masjid incident. The caretaker said that the police control room had been pulled down for the corridor project.

The land was owned by the Uttar Pradesh Central Sunni Waqf Board, which was given for lease for an unlimited period and without any transaction. The trust had requested the mosque's land a couple of years ago, and after checking the rules for such a transfer, the deed was finalised on July 8 this year. According to the Waqf Board Chairman, Zufar Farooqui, the land given to the trust was commercial and was more valuable.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, Sunil Verma, said that the land does not belong to the mosque but the UP Central Waqf Board. So it was exchanged with another based on its value. The land handed over to the mosque in exchange was owned by the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Special Area Development Board, he added.

Three months ago, a local court in Varanasi had ordered an ASI survey of the disputed Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gynvapi Mosque complex. The court directed ASI to determine whether the religious structure standing at present at the disputed site is a superimposition, alteration or addition, or a structural overlapping of any kind, with or over, any religious structure.

The court order was challenged by the UP Sunni Waqf Board and the mosque committee in Allahabad High Court. They argued that such a suit is barred by the provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The matter is before the High Court at the moment.