Peace activist launch interreligious prayer in Varanasi

By Media Matters Reporter

Varanasi, May 23, 2022: Peace activists from various religions have launched a series of interreligious prayer services at different parts of Varanasi as sectarian tension over the Gyan Vapi mosque controversy gripped Hinduism’s most sacred city.

“These prayers are taken from ten different religious sources namely Hindu, Tao, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim faith traditions. They were sung regularly by Mahatma Gandhi in his ashrams along with his disciples and satyagrahis,” Father Anand Mathew, a cultural activist in Varanasi, told Matters India on May 23.

The Indian Missionary Society priest further said they use the Hindi version of those hymns translated by renowned Gandhian Narayan Desai. Father Mathew also distributed among the public those songs printed in a pocket size booklet.

The prayer campaign was first launched May 20 in the campus of Benares Hindu University on, with students who support peace, secularism and dialogue as participants. Later prayer meetings were also held in Maidagin and Shaheed Udyan Sigra.

Jagriti Rahi, a Gandhian who attended the prayer meetings, says common people of Varanasi do not want any more riots and curfews. The entire city now debates whether a stone found in the pool of ablutions in the mosque premise is a shivling (the phallic image of Lord Shiva) or an abandoned fountain.

She recalled the experiencing the pain from the wounds of riots immediately after the Babri Masjid violence and the consequent month-long curfew three decades ago.

“Therefore our job is not to indulge in debates but to motivate people to turn to God and to pray earnestly for peace and love, which are the basic human instincts,” explained Rahi.

She joined the artistes of Prerna Kala Manch, a cultural troupe headed by Father Mathew, to sing the songs in places including Hindu temples and gurudwara until the end of May.

The initiative is being carried out under the banner of Sajha Sanskriti Manch (United Forum for Cultural Diversity), an umbrella organization of social activists of Varanasi. Some members of the front are engaged in organizing mohalla (neighborhood) meetings for peace and harmony with Hindus and Muslims participating.

Father Maju Mathew, who participated in the prayer meetings, said the prayers sung in simple catchy tunes are meaningful. He expressed the hope that these meetings be held regularly and people of all religions participate in them.

Father Roque D’costa, a priest of the diocese of Varanasi and a peace activist, says the Varanasi now sits on “a volcano of communal tension” on the verge of eruption.

“It is the duty of Christians and other peace loving people to come forward to work towards reconciliation between the Hindu and Muslim communities, otherwise the lava of communal violence will sweep away the commercial and other activities of the city,” Father D’Costa warns.

The Catholic priest says the businessmen of the city want peace by all means as they have suffered big losses because of the corona lockdown for more than two years. “They do not want to suffer any more,” he added.

Most Hindus in Varanasi seem happy with the decisions of the court to survey the mosque. They are in a jubilant mood after the alleged discovery of Shivling in the mosque’s ablution tank.

But some Hindu leaders think differently. Rajendra Tiwari, one of the chief priests of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, says he has records which say a Shivling existed inside the mosque premise centuries ago, but it placed in the temple premises by his ancestors.

In an interview to Aaj Tak, a national news channel, Tiwari said, “I have been seeing that pool (ablution tank) since I was a child and used to go and play there.” He added, “It is not right to call just any stone structure a Shivling.”

He says the documents in his possession were given to his ancestors who were caretakers of the temple permitting them to relocate the actual Shivling.

“My ancestors removed the Shivling and established it inside the temple where it remains intact and can be seen even today,” Tiwari adds.

He is upset that the actual “Shivlings” were destroyed during the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor. “When the corridor expansion was taking place, they demolished Shivlings – Karuneshwar Mahadev, Amriteshwar Mahadev, Abhimukteshwar Mahadev, and Chandi-Chandeshwar Mahadev. These are the presiding deities of Kashi,” he added.

Kashi had a tradition of a holy ritual procession around 55 Vinayak (another name of Lord Ganesha) temples. Some of these temples and the idols in them were demolished during the past three years while widening the avenues to build the Kashi VIshwanath Corridor.

Mahant Ganesh Shankar, another ascetic involved in prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple, told Aaj Tak that the structure found is a fountain. “We have been seeing it since childhood. Fountains come in various designs and are located in the middle of water bodies. Sometimes they have a stone base. To the best of my knowledge, it is a fountain, and not a ‘Shivling’ as claimed by the Hindu petitioners,” he added.

The latest controversy rose after a city court ordered a survey of the mosque and restricted Muslims’ entry there while disposing an appeal by representatives of Hindus asking for permission to pray in the premises of the mosque.

Aflatoon, a social and political activist of Varanasi, says the court violated a pact made in 1780 between the Intazamia committee of the mosque and Queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore, who built the present day Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

The pact paved way for a peaceful co-existence of both the temple and the mosque close to each other and safe passage of devotees to their own places of worship.

Father Anand Mathew and the peace activists expressed the hope that the inter religious prayers being held in public places will help people respect spiritual values of truth, justice, peace and love in place of conflict and competition.