Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza has said that every big mosque has a fountain just like the one found in the disputed structure at the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi, claiming that the Shivling in the Gyanvapi structure is just a fountain. He made this statement on Friday, 4th August 2023 when the Archeological Survey of India started surveying the disputed structure as per the orders of the Allahabad High Court situated at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.
After the High Court’s decision rejecting the Muslim side’s plea objecting to the survey of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi structure, the ASI survey started today even though the Muslim side has approached the Supreme Court opposing it. Now different statements are coming out from all sides regarding this matter. The Hindu side is welcoming this decision of the High Court, while the Muslim side is standing in opposition. Meanwhile, IMC president Maulana Tauqeer Raza has also made a statement in which he said about the Shivling found in the Wazukhana of the disputed structure that such a fountain is seen in every big mosque.
Maulana Tauqeer Raza said, “The decision that the High Court has given according to its understanding, Anjuman has decided to go to the Supreme Court against it. We understand that the Supreme Court will take the right decision. There is talk of some artefacts in it. You think that there is a Shivling inside that wazu tank, such a Shivling will be found in every big mosque in India, in which there is a wazu tank. Because every mosque has such a fountain.”
Maulana Tauqeer Raza added, “I had said this earlier also. This can be folly. This is an attempt to forcibly capture it and spread riots. I hope that the Supreme Court will give the verdict which is right in this case.”
It is notable that a team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Friday morning arrived at the Gyanvapi structure premises adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi and started a scientific survey of the complex amid tight security.
