Gyanvapi Mosque: Proposal For Out-Of-Court Settlement Rejected

New Delhi/Varanasi: In a new turn in the Gyanvapi Mosque dispute, a woman plaintiff, Rakhi Singh, extended an open invitation to the mosque’s management committee, Anjuman Intejamia Masajid (AIM), proposing an out-of-court settlement. However, the remaining four women plaintiffs have refused the possibility of such a settlement.

These five women are plaintiffs in suit no 18/2022 Rakhi Singh and others vs state of UP and others. A court-mandated ASI survey is in progress in the same suit to ascertain whether Gyanvapi mosque is standing atop a Hindu temple.

Vishni Jain, lawyer of the four women plaintiffs on Thursday said that no party can do settlement in the issues of social and national interest. “My clients are not ready for settlement. Land inside barricaded area is of Hindus. Muslim side should seek an apology for using the temple as a mosque. Justice should be done with the property of god”, added Jain, as per a Times of India report.

Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh (VVSS), which is backing plaintiff Rakhi Singh in suit no. 18/2022 in which five women plaintiffs are seeking worship of Shringar Gauri and other deities in the Gyanvapi mosque compound, had on August 14, issued an open letter through the media to AIM for a peaceful out-of-court settlement.

Responding to this letter AIM general secretary and Mufti-e-Banaras Abdul Batin Nomani and joint secretary SM Yaseen said, “We have received a letter from VVSS, containing the proposal for an out-of-court settlement. We will table it before our committee for a decision.”