An Indian court on Monday rejected a plea by a Muslim committee contesting a lawsuit filed by Hindus over claims that a historic mosque was a temple and asserting their right to worship inside the Islamic complex.
The 17th century Gyanvapi mosque in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi was built by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb allegedly over the ruins of an ancient Vishweshwar temple — dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.
A group of Hindu women filed a lawsuit challenging the title of the mosque and demanding that they be allowed to pray inside the mosque, despite a law barring such petitions.
Varanasi's district judge AK Vishvesha ruled that the Hindu lawsuit was maintainable and allowed a further hearing on the lawsuit filed by Hindu petitioners seeking free access to the mosque complex for conducting religious rituals.
“Suit filed by Hindu worshippers maintainable,” the judge ordered.
The court fixed September 22 as the next date for hearing arguments in the appeal filed by the Hindu petitioners.
The petitioners — five Hindu women — have demanded free access to the complex and the right to pray to all “visible and invisible deities within the old temple complex”.
A popular 18th-century Kashi Vishwanath temple is close to the mosque.
Right-wing Hindu groups have campaigned for decades to reclaim the site, claiming that the Mughal ruler had demolished the temple to make way for the mosque.
The case was shifted from a civil judge to the district judge by the Supreme Court due to the “sensitivity and complexity” of the issue.
The top court also maintained its interim order of protecting the spot where the purported Shiv Linga — a representation of Lord Shiva — was found, while allowing Muslims to worship in the mosque for eight weeks or until the maintainability of the suit is decided.
The apex court’s intervention came while hearing a plea filed by the mosque committee challenging a court order for videography of the entire mosque complex and the sealing of a pond where a purported Shiv Linga was claimed to have been found.
The civil court in Varanasi had ordered the filming of the mosque, based on the petition.
A report of the filming at the mosque was then submitted to the Varanasi court in a sealed cover, but the Hindu petitioners controversially made the video and other details public just hours later.
A court commissioner who was earlier appointed to conduct the survey of the mosque was removed for leaking information to the media.
The top court then said that all issues would have to be first argued before the district court and adjourned the matter until October 20.
Security had been beefed up in the city and orders were imposed to avoid any communal tension on Monday, Santosh Kumar, a top city police officer, said.
Police forces, bomb squads and sniffer dogs were posted in areas with Hindu and Muslim populations.
Several Hindu groups including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a radical group linked to powerful Hindu supremacist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), have unsuccessfully filed lawsuits to reclaim the mosque complex that is protected under India’s Places of Worship Act.
The legislation was passed to protect historical but contentious religious sites in the country and mandates that the nature of all places of worship are maintained as they were on the day India gained freedom from British rule in 1947.
There have been recurrent calls from Hindu right-wing parties to demolish the mosque, like the 14th century Babri Mosque that was razed by members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the RSS in 1992.
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A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
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Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Brandon Stanley
Two-and-a-half out of five stars
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Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Four reasons global stock markets are falling right now
There are many factors worrying investors right now and triggering a rush out of stock markets. Here are four of the biggest:
1. Rising US interest rates
The US Federal Reserve has increased interest rates three times this year in a bid to prevent its buoyant economy from overheating. They now stand at between 2 and 2.25 per cent and markets are pencilling in three more rises next year.
Kim Catechis, manager of the Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets Fund, says US inflation is rising and the Fed will continue to raise rates in 2019. “With inflationary pressures growing, an increasing number of corporates are guiding profitability expectations downwards for 2018 and 2019, citing the negative impact of rising costs.”
At the same time as rates are rising, central bankers in the US and Europe have been ending quantitative easing, bringing the era of cheap money to an end.
2. Stronger dollar
High US rates have driven up the value of the dollar and bond yields, and this is putting pressure on emerging market countries that took advantage of low interest rates to run up trillions in dollar-denominated debt. They have also suffered capital outflows as international investors have switched to the US, driving markets lower. Omar Negyal, portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust, says this looks like a buying opportunity. “Despite short-term volatility we remain positive about long-term prospects and profitability for emerging markets.”
3. Global trade war
Ritu Vohora, investment director at fund manager M&G, says markets fear that US President Donald Trump’s spat with China will escalate into a full-blown global trade war, with both sides suffering. “The US economy is robust enough to absorb higher input costs now, but this may not be the case as tariffs escalate. However, with a host of factors hitting investor sentiment, this is becoming a stock picker’s market.”
4. Eurozone uncertainty
Europe faces two challenges right now in the shape of Brexit and the new populist government in eurozone member Italy.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, which has offices in Dubai, says the stand-off between between Rome and Brussels threatens to become much more serious. "As with Brexit, neither side appears willing to step back from the edge, threatening more trouble down the line.”
The European economy may also be slowing, Mr Beauchamp warns. “A four-year low in eurozone manufacturing confidence highlights the fact that producers see a bumpy road ahead, with US-EU trade talks remaining a major question-mark for exporters.”
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Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
