Mosque panel on ASI report on Gyanvapi: Will submit objections after getting historians’ views

The ASI, tasked by the Varanasi district court to ascertain whether the mosque was “constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple”, has concluded that a temple “appears to have been destroyed in the 17th century, during the reign of Aurangzeb and part of it… modified and reused in the existing structure”. The ASI report — which has four volumes — was made public on Thursday after copies of it were handed over to the Hindu and Muslim litigants by the court.

Asked about the ASI report concluding that the mosque was built over a pre-existing temple, Yasin said, “They are saying this. We say it is wrong and the remains found there are actually of the mosque. Can they do a scientific evaluation from photographs? They didn’t collect any samples and get them tested at a laboratory. How can they reach a conclusion based on photographs?”

“We have got historical books which state that the mosque was built in the 15th century before Humayun’s reign. The document/book is in Persian, which states that Sheikh Suleimani Mohaddis had got this (Gyanvapi) mosque built on an empty plot of land. It seems that there may have been some Buddhist structure there. The whole of Varanasi was a major centre for Buddhists till the Shankaracharya arrived in Varanasi. Sheikh Suleimani Mohaddis, who hailed from Jaunpur and was a wealthy man, had built two mosques – one in Varanasi and one in Jaunpur which is still there,” added Yasin.

He claimed that it was Emperor Akbar, who expanded the mosque under the philosophy of Din-e-ilahai, and then, in the third phase, it was Aurangzeb who expanded the mosque. “We also have an issue with the ASI report quoting from the book Maasir-i-Alamgiri. They (ASI) have used a translation of the book, but where is the original. We want the original book to be quoted and not a translation,” he said.