'Truth will come out': UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya on Allahabad HC allowing ASI survey of Gyanvapi mosque

Commenting on the Allahabad High Court's verdict on the Gyanvapi mosque survey, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the decision to allow ASI to conduct a survey will resolve the issue."I welcome this verdict. I am confident that the truth will come out after the ASI survey and Gyanvapi issue will be resolved," he said.The Allahabad High Court on Thursday allowed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi.On July 27, the court had reserved the order in the case till 3 August.Dismissing the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee’s challenge against the survey, the bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker said, “Issue of a commission is permissible. The Varanasi Court was justified in ordering for ASI survey of the premises. Scientific survey is necessary in the interest of justice.”Samajwadi Party MP Dr ST Hasan said, "We will abide by the orders of the court. Today our country needs communal harmony & national integration. No statement should be made which creates differences between people in the country."Senior advocate Harishankar Jain said, "There are numerous pieces of evidence present there that say that it was a Hindu temple. ASI survey will bring out the facts. I am sure that the original 'shivling' has been hidden below the main dome there.""To hide this truth, they (Muslim side) are objecting repeatedly. They know that after this it won't remain a mosque and the way will be clear for the construction of a grand temple there," he added.Earlier, in its order on 21 July, a Varanasi court had directed the ASI to conduct the survey of the mosque that included excavations if necessary. The survey was ordered to determine whether the mosque was built on the ruins of a temple or not.While ASI had started conducting the survey on the mosque premises, the previous court order was stayed by the Supreme Court on 24 July after the mosque committee approached it.The Committee said that any kind of survey would destabilise the mosque’s structure owing to its weak foundation which is over a thousand years old.