LUCKNOW: Business establishments and shops in Muslim-dominated areas across the Varanasi district remained closed following a bandh against the Varanasi district court order of January 31, 2024, allowing puja in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque premises.
However, in response to the bandh call, the police administration had sounded an alert in the entire Varanasi district ahead of Friday namaz which passed off peacefully at all the mosques, including the Gyanvapi, amid tight security bandobast. The bandh call was given by Mufti-e-Banaras and AIM general secretary Maulana Abdul Batin Nomani, against the district court's order allowing puja in the southern cellar on Gyanvapi mosque premises and also the ‘haste’ with which the Varanasi district administration moved to ensure the compliance of the court order despite being given seven days’ time to act.
Notably, the bandh call was given by Nomani on the first Friday after the trial court order. The effect of the bandh was visible in the Muslim-dominated market areas in Dalmandi, Pili Kothhi, Nai Sadak, Nadesar, Bajardiha and Ardal bazar areas of the town.
In a letter issued by the AIM, the Muslim community was called upon to abstain from work and offer namaz at the nearest mosque peacefully. It had advised the Muslim women to remain indoors. However, people in large numbers turned up at all the mosques including the Gyanvapi complex for the Friday namaz. The crowd was so massive that many of them had to be turned away, said Maulana Nomani.
Responding to the allegation of undue ‘haste’ shown by the administration in getting the puja started inside the cellar within a few hours of the district court order, the newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shree Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, Vibhushan Mishra said that the deities consecrated inside the cellar were like the living child left unattended for so long.
“If the district court had allowed the puja, then it was the bounden responsibility of the district administration to make arrangements for the same in compliance with the court order as soon as possible,” said Mishra.
Meanwhile, heavy police force and RAF were deployed in the city in view of a bandh call given by AIM. While the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi area was fortified with additional forces, Chowk and Bansphatak areas were made a no-vehicle zone. Gate no 4 of Kashi Vishwanath Dham, the entry point to the Gyanvapi's southern cellar, where puja started on Thursday, was under heavy barricading.
As per the police sources, Police Commissioner Ashok Mutha Jain held a meeting with police officials late on Thursday night on the security arrangements. Additional police force was mobilised from the neighbouring districts to maintain law, order and peace during the day. The police department remained on its toes and kept a vigilant eye on all the mosques around the city through drones.
