Indian court allows Hindus to pray inside disputed mosque

VARANASI, India: An Indian court weighed in on one of the country´s most sensitive religious disputes on Wednesday by permitting Hindu worshippers to pray inside a mosque in the city of Varanasi.

The Gyanvapi mosque is one of several Islamic houses of worship that Hindu activists, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi´s party, have sought for decades to reclaim for their religion.

It was built in the 17th century by the Mughal empire in a city where Hindu faithful from across the country cremate their loved ones by the Ganges river.

The court in Varanasi ruled that Hindu worshippers -- who believe the mosque replaced a destroyed temple to the deity Shiva -- could pray in the building´s basement.

Its verdict ordered district authorities to “make proper arrangements within the next seven days” to facilitate worshippers.

The decision is the latest in a long-running legal saga over Gyanvapi´s future.

This month, India´s official archaeological agency said a survey of the site appeared to corroborate the belief that it was originally home to a temple, according to local news reports. Emboldened right-wing Hindu groups have laid claim to several Muslim sites of worship they say were built atop ancient temples during Mughal rule.

Last week, Modi presided over a grand inauguration ceremony in the nearby city of Ayodhya for a Hindu temple built on grounds once home to the centuries-old Babri mosque.