Fresh fissures have emerged among the Hindu petitioners of the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanathan cases on the Varanasi district court’s order of consolidating all the seven related suits and hearing them together.
On May 23, the Varanasi district court passed an order allowing the consolidation of seven suits related to the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute that were filed in different courts of Varanasi in 2021 and 2022. In its order, the court of Varanasi District Judge Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha said that it “will be expedient in the interest of justice that all the (seven) suits” should be tried together and “may be consolidated”.
Among the five Hindu women petitioners who had filed a petition in a local court of Varanasi last year seeking the right to worship Maa Shringar Gauri on the outer wall of the mosque complex located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, four are on the same page on the consolidation of seven suits and hearing them together, while one, Rakhi Singh, is opposed to it.
During the hearing on May 23, the lawyers for Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas, and Rekha Pathak — all residents of Varanasi — prayed before the court that the seven cases be consolidated. Advocate Shivam Gaur, who represented Rakhi Singh, however, opposed the prayer and told the court that the parties (the five women) “are not arrayed”.
Rakhi Singh, who lives in Delhi, is the niece of Gonda-based Vishwa Vedic Sanathan Sangh chief Jitender Singh Vishen.
Vishen has alleged that the consolidation of the seven cases will weaken the “cause of the Hindus in order to get the right over the whole Gyanvapi mosque”.
“I will challenge the Varanasi District Court judge’s order of May 23 to consolidate all the seven cases. If this order isn’t challenged then the Gyanvapi mosque premises will be lost by the Hindus of this country. Out of the seven cases, six have been filed by me through other people. As per a plan, I had gotten all these cases filed by different people with different objectives. In May last year, a conspiracy was hatched to sideline me. I don’t want credit and I am only working for the cause of Hindutva while others want money and fame,” Vishen told The Indian Express.
Vishen also claimed that the “most crucial case” out of the seven was filed by his wife Kiran Singh. “The most important case out of the seven is the one filed by my wife Kiran Singh on behalf of Lord Adi Vishweshwar. It is the only case that seeks to get the entire Gyanvapi premises for the Hindus. And now that the cases have been consolidated without even framing of issues, we will lose the battle if this order is not challenged in the Allahabad High Court. We will do it soon,” Vishen added.
The Vishwa Vedic Sanathan Sangh chief also claimed that the Varanasi district court’s decision to make the petition of five women seeking permission to worship a part of the mosque as the “leading petition” when the seven suits are heard together would water down the claim of Hindus.
“Even if that case is won by us, what we will get is that those five women will be allowed to worship a part of the structure that is called the mosque. That is not our end goal. Our end goal is to get the whole premises for the Hindus, and that won’t be fulfilled even if the case where my niece is the lead petitioner is won by us. Our end goal can only be achieved by winning the case filed by my wife Kiran Singh and that has been weakened by some lawyers,” said Vishen.
He alleged that the advocate Hari Shankar Jain and his son Vishnu Shankar Jain — who are representing the other four women petitioners – are merely making money through this cause. “They are sitting on news channels most of the time… They are doing it for publicity and to get the media’s attention and to make money. They have no aim to win over the disputed structure,” Vishen claimed.
Contacted by The Indian Express, advocate Hari Shankar Jain, said that he would not respond to personal attacks made against him and his son. “If someone is saying they will challenge an order in a court, then they are free to do so. I will answer in the courtroom… I won’t reply to the personal allegations. I am doing my work with everything I have. People are free to say whatever they want,” said Jain.
On Vishen’s allegations that the cause of Gyanvapi will be lost because of the consolidation of cases, Jain said, “That is his understanding. As a lawyer, I have a different understanding than him… He does not know the first thing about the law. Everyone has a right to have an opinion… I only do my work. I don’t say anything about anyone… I am working for the cause of Hindutva and I am doing the best for my cases.”
The dispute between the petitioners is not new. They have been at loggerheads since May last year when Civil Judge (Senior Division), Varanasi, Ravi Kumar Diwakar ordered a survey of the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque site by a court-appointed Commission. It directed the Commission to “prepare videography of the action” and submit a report.
Since then, Vishen’s family members, who are petitioners, and the other four women seem to be at loggerheads. This became evident on May 8 last year when advocate Hari Shankar Jain, who was then representing the five women, announced that Rakhi Singh was withdrawing from the petition. This was contradicted by Vishen the next day.
Then, in November last year, Vishen announced that he will give the power of attorney in all the cases to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. This was followed by a notice to Vishen by Varanasi Police.
Bisen claimed that he was “facing pressure” to drop out from the Gyanvapi issue and “false cases” were being filed against him as “I’m not withdrawing from the cases”.