Mediation bid fails for 3 UP shrine cases

Efforts to explore an out-of-court settlement in three major religious site disputes in Uttar Pradesh have failed to gain traction, with parties in the Gyanvapi, Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah and the Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid cases insisting that the courts adjudicate the matter.

The Supreme Court has launched the ‘Supreme Court Action for Mediated Adjudication and Disputes Harmonisation across Nation’ (SAMADHAN SAMAROH) to encourage amicable settlement of pending cases through mediation ahead of a Special Lok Adalat scheduled to be held on August 21, 22 and 23.

As part of the initiative, parties in several pending matters have been asked to explore the possibility of an amicable settlement.

In the Gyanvapi case, Hindu side counsel Madan Mohan Yadav said the Supreme Court had asked both parties to appear before the mediation centre of a Varanasi court on July 14 to explore a possible resolution. However, Yadav said the Hindu side wanted the dispute to be decided on legal grounds alone.

“We have decided that the temple belongs to us and that the Muslim side is an encroacher. The mosque side should vacate the premises so that a grand Kashi Vishwanath temple can be built at the original Jyotirlinga site,” he said.

Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee secretary Mohammad Yasin said thousands of similar disputes were pending across the country and doubted whether mediation would lead to any resolution.

He said the committee was still considering whether to participate in the mediation process.

The Gyanvapi issue in Varanasi is an ongoing civil court case involving conflicting claims over the religious status of Gyanvapi mosque, which lies adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

The Hindu side claims that the mosque was built after Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb destroyed parts of the ancient temple in the 17th century.

The Muslim side maintains that the mosque predates Aurangzeb’s reign and is a legitimate Waqf property.

In the Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid-Hari Har temple dispute, mosque committee’s counsel Shakeel Ahmad Warsi said the issue involved religious faiths and was too sensitive to be resolved through compromise.

“This is a sensitive matter involving Hindus, Muslims and religious beliefs. Whether it is a temple or a mosque should be decided by the court, not through mutual settlement,” Warsi told PTI.

He said the Muslim side had informed the court that while anyone could seek to intervene in the proceedings, such attempts should not be driven by mala fide intentions as the matter concerned a religious place.

Hindu side counsel Gopal Sharma said he was not aware of any proposal for mediation in the Sambhal case.

The Sambhal dispute is similar to the Varanasi issue, where there are conflicting claims over the religious character of the site.

Hindu petitioners have alleged that the 16th-century Jama Masjid was built at the site of an ancient Hari Har Mandir, a claim disputed by the Muslim side.

In the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah dispute, mediation proceedings held before the District Legal Services Authority in Mathura earlier this month failed after no representative of the Muslim side attended the meeting, Hindu side’s counsel Hareram Tripathi said.

He said both parties had been invited twice to participate in the conciliation process, but the Muslim side did not appear, following which the mediation proceedings were closed.

According to Tripathi, the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust had proposed that if the Muslim side relinquished its claim over the disputed site, the trust could consider facilitating land for construction of a mosque elsewhere.

He said the Muslim side had conveyed that it was not willing to settle the dispute through mediation and preferred adjudication through regular court proceedings.

The Allahabad High Court has fixed July 17 for further proceedings in the matter, while the Supreme Court may take it up during the Special Lok Adalat in August as part of the mediation initiative.

Attempts by PTI to contact Shahi Eidgah Intezamia Committee secretary and Muslim side counsel Tanveer Ahmad for comment did not elicit a response.

Hindu litigant Mahendra Pratap Singh said the Hindu side continued to maintain before the court that the disputed site was the birthplace of Lord Krishna and would pursue the matter through the judicial process.

The Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi- Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura arose after the Hindu side filed a petition alleging that the mosque was built in the 17th century on the exact spot where Lord Krishna was born.