Varanasi court rejects carbon dating plea by the Hindus

Varanasi, Oct 14: In the row linked to the Gyanvapi mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, the district court on Friday took up the plea that sought carbon dating or any other scientific investigation of the Shivling-like structure found on the compound of the mosque. The court has rejected the demand to carry out the carbon dating.

 

 

 

Madan Mohan, one of the counsels representing the plaintiffs in the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case, rejected the plea seeking carbon dating or any scientific investigation of the structure which the plaintiffs claimed to be a Shivling and other surrounding structures. He said the court ordered to preserve the structure in its original state.

 

 

Earlier this week, the court had reserved its judgment during the hearing in the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi complex case after the Muslim side had submitted its response. While objecting to the plea from the plaintiff seeking carbon dating and scientific investigation of the fountain, which they claim to be a Shivling and other structures on the Gyanvapi mosque compound, the counsels of Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC), the Muslim side, submitted their response in the last hearing, stating that carbon dating of the structure is not ‘feasible’ and ‘irrelevant’. “Carbon dating of the stone is not possible, it is non-feasible since stone is not an organic matter”, Raees Ahmed, one of the counsels of AIMC, the committee that takes care of the Gyanvapi mosque, said in the court.

 

 

Besides, the AIMC counsel in the response also stated that the structure is not part of the suit property and hence carrying out carbon dating or scientific investigation to verify its age is ‘irrelevant’.