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The five women whose petition has shaken up the nation

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 The five women who caused an upheaval in the country by filing a petition seeking permission to offer prayers at the Shringar Gauri shrine in the Gyanvapi mosque complex here are neither friends, nor part of one group.

Of the five petitioners, one is based in Delhi while four belong to Varanasi. The closest they came to know of each other is a chance meeting at a ‘satsang’.

While Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak live in Varanasi and have been present at every hearing of the case which began in August 2021, the fifth and the main petitioner, Rakhi Singh, lives in Delhi and has not been to court.

Rakhi Singh’s interest in religion seems to originate from her links to the ‘Vishwa Vedic Sanathan Sangh’.

Rakhi, 35, is a founder member of the outfit, which claims to have done ‘coordination’ for the petition. Her uncle, Jitendra Singh Bishen, is the President of the Sangh.

According to Santosh Singh, the UP convenor of the Vishwa Vedic Sanathan Sangh, the outfit coordinated with four of the women and brought them together to file the Gyanvapi petition in August 2021.

“We are managing the whole case,” he claimed.

The second petitioner is Laxmi Devi, 65, whose husband, Sohan Lal Arya, is a senior VHP office-bearer in Varanasi. Laxmi Devi is essentially a homemaker and lives in Varanasi’s Mahmoorganj area.

An active player in this case, her husband claims it was he who “inspired and brought together the five women (petitioners)”.

Arya, 71, is also the litigants’ agent in the petition.

The VHP Varanasi Mahanagar vice-president and spokesperson since 1984, he said that the petitioners, including his wife, were chosen by him.

Arya, who claims to have been associated with the RSS since childhood, said that he filed his first petition in the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi matter in a Varanasi court in 1985.

“This time, I decided to put women in front as it is they who pray to Maa Shringar Gauri. I chose the four women as I needed some women to file the petition. I didn’t have any other names, so I picked them,” he said.

The Vishwa Vedic Sanathan Sangh was founded in 2018 “for the cause of Hindutva”. The outfit has also filed cases over the status of Qutub Minar in a Delhi court as well as one regarding the Krishna Janmabhoomi in a Mathura court, which also involves dispute with a mosque.

Sita Sahu, another petitioner, however, has another story as to how they came together for the case.

“Four of us met at a satsang and decided to file the petition. We were contacted by Rakhi Singh saying she wanted to be a part of the petition, so we included her as well,” she said.

Sita Sahu runs a small general store from her house in Chetganj area of Varanasi, just 2 km from the Gyanvapi complex.

While she has never been associated with any outfit or organisation, she said, “We are doing work for Hindu religion and filed the petition because we are not allowed to properly worship our Goddess at the temple.”

Manju Vyas, 49, runs a beauty parlour from her house located 1.5 km from the Gyanvapi complex and is not a member or office-bearer of any outfit or organisation. Apart from her small business, she looks after her family. Her interest is to pray at the Shringar Gauri Sthal.

Rekha Pathak, 35, the fifth petitioner in the case, said she became a part of the petition for the cause of her Goddess.

“I felt bad that women who go to the temple for worship are not allowed past the barricading, so I became a part of the petition. The decision to file the petition was taken by us during a satsang of the temple because all of us worship the Goddess,” she said.

It is on their petition that the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Varanasi, ordered a videographic inspection of the Gyanvapi mosque, inviting objections from the Muslim community.

“For us, nothing else matters except for offering prayers at Shringar Gauri Maa and we will not rest till we are given the permission,” the petitioners said.

Interestingly, none of the five petitioners are aware of the legal or political implications that their petition is having on the nation.

“We are only concerned with worshipping at Shringar Gauri and nothing else matters to us,” said Rekha Pathak.

Mumbai Press Exclusive News

Peaceful protest at Mumbai Handiwali Mosque, Muslims are ready to die for their Holy Prophet PBUH, case against Muslim youths should be withdrawn: Raza Academy

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he streets and mosques of Mumbai and Maharashtra echoed with the slogans of “Come, Muhammad” when a case was registered in UP for hanging a banner of “Come, Muhammad”. Throughout Maharashtra, lovers of the Prophet staged a peaceful protest, during which police arrangements were also deployed. After a case was filed against 25 Muslim youth for hanging a banner of “Come, Muhammad” on Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, the name of Muhammad (PBUH) is trending on social media around the world. Muslims in Mumbai and Maharashtra also held peaceful protests after Friday prayers against this action of the UP police. In this protest, Muslims have demanded that the action taken by the police is wrong and that they should withdraw the case and apologize to the Muslim youth. Here, in the Handi Wali Mosque, the preacher and Imam Maulana Ijaz Kashmiri said that the name of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is famous in the world and Muslims follow their master. The way an FIR has been registered in UP for writing the name of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is completely unfair and now the police is trying to give it a different color. The police have declared it a separate case to divert attention from it, which is not right. Kashmiri said that the FIR registered by the police against the Muslim youth should be withdrawn and they should apologize because the police have tried to spoil the atmosphere by taking this action. He said that Muslims love the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) immensely, that is why they shower their lives on him. After that, Durood Pak and The slogan of “I Love Muhammad” was raised. The devotee of Rasool showed his devotion and love for the Prophet (peace be upon him) by raising the slogan of “I Love Muhammad” in Mumbai and Maharashtra. The police had made strict security arrangements during this time. In Govindi, Mumbai, MLA Abu Asim Azmi also protested with a placard of “I Love Muhammad” along with this, he said that the most popular and pious personality in the world is Muhammad Mustafa (peace be upon him). The way a case has been registered in UP for writing “I Love Muhammad”, that is why we are protesting peacefully. He said that communal elements object to everything, in such a situation, a conspiracy is also being hatched to spoil the atmosphere of the country, this needs to be paid attention to.

Saeed Noori, head of Raza Academy, said that a Muslim can tolerate everything but cannot tolerate the disrespect of his Prophet and for this he will not hesitate to sacrifice his life because the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is the part of the faith and belief of Muslims. Therefore, we demand that the police immediately withdraw the case registered against the Muslim youth.

Similarly, protest demonstrations were also held in Aurangabad, Mumbra, Nanded, Bhiwandi, Osmanabad in Maharashtra. In the protest demonstration, the lovers of the Prophet (PBUH) held a placard of Come, Muhammad (PBUH) and raised the slogan of Come, Muhammad. Not only that, a memorandum was given to the collector in Nanded and Jantur. In addition, the lovers of the Prophet demonstrated at the square in Beed.

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Maharashtra

Provision of meager funds to Maharashtra State Sahitya Urdu Academy, a serious allegation of misbehavior by the state government, Ministry of Minority Affairs has not kept its promise: Raees Sheikh

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Mumbai: The Mumbai State Urdu Sahitya Academy is celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year and the Mahayuti government has not kept its promise by providing only Rs 1.2 crore in the Golden Jubilee year. Samajwadi Party MLA from Bhiwandi East Raees Sheikh has alleged that the state government is deliberately discriminating against minority institutions. MLA Sheikh has also demanded Rs 50 crore from Minority Affairs Minister Manekrao Kokate.

Giving details in this regard, MLA Raees Sheikh said that under the government decision on Thursday, a minor fund of Rs 1 crore 20 lakh has been distributed to the Urdu Sahitya Academy for organizing the Golden Jubilee program and a minor fund of Rs 11 lakh 76 thousand for the establishment of the academy.

I had a meeting with the then Minority Affairs Minister Dattatreya Bhar on July 8, in which a permanent fund of Rs 50 crore will be kept for the academy for a period of 50 years. It was also assured that the academy would be given a grant of Rs 5 crore every year. A letter was sent to the current Minority Affairs Minister Manikrao Kokate in August, demanding a fund of Rs 50 crore for organizing various programs for the golden jubilee year of the academy.

The state government has violated all the provisions of the meeting by providing meager funds in the government decision published yesterday. The number of Urdu speakers in Maharashtra is 75 lakh and 25 Urdu dailies are published. Urdu is an Indian language. While the Urdu Sahitya Academy is celebrating its golden jubilee this year, it has once again highlighted that the Mahayoti government is treating the minority community with contempt by providing meager funds. MLA Rais Sheikh said that in this regard, we will seek cooperation from Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

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Maharashtra

Protection of religious places in Bhiwandi road expansion project, MLA Raees Sheikh assures protection of religious places after meeting with Municipal Commissioner

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Mumbai: Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Raees Sheikh has demanded protection of religious places like mosque, temple, gurudwara, and Samaj Mandir in the Bhiwandi road expansion project. He has also demanded rehabilitation and compensation for the victims of the Bhiwandi and Kalyan road expansion project. Raees Sheikh was being accused of supporting the DP plan to benefit the builder lobby, after which Raees Sheikh met the Municipal Commissioner Bhiwandi Nizampur today and made it clear that the road and DP plan and policy are not prepared by the MLA. He said that the road expansion and DP plan should be changed and the protection of religious places should be ensured, on which the Municipal Commissioner Bhiwandi Nizampur assured Raees Sheikh that the protection of religious places will be maintained. If it is an obstacle in the survey, then necessary changes should be made in the project along with ensuring their protection. He said that religious places of any nature will be protected.

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