Varanasi (UP): The district court is all set to pronounce its verdict on October 14 on a petition for the carbon dating of a “Shivling” reportedly found on the premises of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, sources said on Tuesday.
During a court-ordered videography survey of the mosque premises, as the Hindu petitioners claimed, a “Shivling” was found at a place close to the “Wazookhana,” a small reservoir used by Muslims to perform ritual ablutions before offering the namaz.
Nevertheless, the Muslim petitioners disputed the claim, saying the object was part of a fountain. According to district government counsel Mahendra Pratap Panday, the arguments were complete on Tuesday and the court would pass a verdict on the matter on October 14. Lawyer Mumtaz Ahmed, representing the Muslims, said they had informed the court that the carbon dating of the object cannot done.
According to Ahmed, if the object gets damaged during carbon dating, it will amount to the defiance of the Supreme Court order. The Muslims contended that the Supreme Court had asked the Varanasi district magistrate to keep the object safe, so getting it examined would not be justified. As the original case is related to worship of Shringar Gauri, the structure in the mosque has hardly had anything to do with it.
