ASI team stops survey work of Gyanvapi mosque in UP's Varanasi following SC order
Varanasi (UP) (PTI): A survey of the Gyanvapi complex to ascertain if the mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi was built upon a temple was stopped by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Monday following a Supreme Court order.
The apex Court has halted the "detailed scientific survey" till 5 pm on July 26, saying "some breathing time" needed to be granted to appeal against the order.
Varanasi Divisional Commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma said the survey work has been stopped in view of the top court's order.
A 30-member ASI team entered the Gyanvapi complex around 7 am to carry out the survey in accordance with a Varanasi court's order.
After coming out of the mosque complex, Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi, one of the counsel of the Hindu petitioners in the legal dispute, said the survey work lasted for about four hours.
The entire premises was inspected and measured and four teams were deployed at the four corners, he said, adding that the survey proceedings have been recorded by installing four cameras at the four corners of the mosque.
The stones and bricks on the premises were also inspected, Chaturvedi said.
"We are sure that the entire complex belongs to the temple and the result of the survey will be in our favour," he added.
Vishnu Shankar Jain, another counsel representing the petitioners, said, "We will go to the high court and argue on this issue within two days."
"A wrong statement is being given by the Muslim side that vandalism is being done in the campus, while only measurement and mapping work is being carried out during the survey," he said.
Besides the ASI team, the lawyers of all the Hindu petitioners were also present at the site, Madan Mohan Yadav, one of the counsel, said.
However, citing the Supreme Court hearing scheduled for Monday on the order for the survey, the lawyers of the Muslim side had demanded that the date for the exercise be postponed, Yadav said.
Late on Sunday evening, District Magistrate (DM) S Rajalingam had said the ASI team had reached Varanasi and the survey proceedings inside the Gyanvapi mosque campus would begin from 7 am on Monday.
Varanasi Police Commissioner Ashok Mutha Jain and the DM held a meeting with both the Hindu and Muslim sides to the dispute on Sunday night to share information about the survey with them.
District Judge A K Vishvesh directed the ASI on Friday to conduct the detailed scientific survey -- including excavations, wherever necessary -- to determine if the mosque was built at a place where a temple existed earlier.
The mosque's "wazookhana" (a small reservoir for Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering namaz), where a structure claimed by the Hindu litigants to be a "Shivling" exists, will not be a part of the survey, following an earlier Supreme Court order protecting that spot in the complex.
The judge has directed the ASI to submit a report to the court by August 4, along with video clips and photographs of the survey proceedings.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
