New Delhi: The Hindu Mahasabha president, Swami Chakrapani Maharaj, appealed to Muslims to give the rights of the Hindus over the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and "set an example". Maharaj's statement came after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) published its survey report suggesting that the mosque was built over a pre-existing temple, Asian News International reported.
The ASI survey was ordered by the Varanasi district court to check whether the 17th-century mosque was built over a temple.
Citing the ASI report, Swami Maharaj said that the Mughals did things incorrectly, and the current Muslim generation must support it.
According to the ASI survey, the Gyanvapi mosque complex was built, destroying a pre-existing structure in the 17th century, while part of it was modified and reused. Scientific studies suggest that there was a huge Hindu temple there, the ASI report claimed.
It also added that the western wall of the existing structure is the remaining part of the destroyed Hindu temple.
The report further said that there were Arabic-Persian inscriptions inside a room that suggested that the mosque was built in the 20th regnal year of Aurangazeb (1676-77 CE). The survey claimed to have analysed architectural remains, exposed features and artefacts, inscriptions, art and sculptures, etc., to reach a conclusion.
The survey is said to have dug out architectural elements, including sculptures of Hindu deities and ornate architectural members, discovered buried within the premises.
The ASI survey was conducted in response to a petition by Hindu litigants seeking permission to hold prayers within the mosque compound.