India Court Set to Hear Petition for Hindus to Access Mosque
- The dispute has the potential to lead to religious conflict
- The ruling can be challenged in India’s higher courts
The Gyanvapi mosque, left, in Varanasi, India.
Photographer: Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo
This article is for subscribers only.
An Indian court said it will examine a petition from a group of Hindu women seeking the right to pray inside a mosque in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency in northern India. The lawsuit could become a religious flash-point between majority Hindus and minority Muslims.
The Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, one of Hinduism’s holiest cities on the banks of the Ganges river, became the site of a dispute after Hindu groups claimed that symbols, linked to the god Shiva, were found inside the complex. Muslim groups denied this and had asked that the petition be dismissed.