The hullabaloo has been persistent. One just needs to take a look at the major television news channels or newspapers over the past month. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the Gyanvapi Mosque survey in Varanasi. The reporting of it all on any medium of news prima facie shows a dangerous lack of facts or objectivity. The reporting in most of the media institutions has been both emotional and sensational. Post-pandemic, Gyanvapi Mosque, and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple have resurfaced in the popular imagination. Five women, Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas, Rekha Pathak and Rakhi Singh, filed a suit in Varanasi for regular darshan (worship) of Goddess Shringar Gauri located within the mosque premises.
Initially, civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar appointed advocate Ajay Kumar Mishra as the court commissioner to survey the mosque premises after Eid with videography and photography. As per the directions of the court, Mishra attempted to complete the survey on May 6 and 7. However, it could not be completed as the Masjid Committee opposed videography inside the mosque premises. Soon, a petition was filed on behalf of the Anjuman Management Masjid Committee, demanding the removal of Mishra. While hearing the case, judge Diwakar appointed Vishal Kumar Singh and Ajay Singh as court commissioners on May 12, along with Ajay Kumar Mishra. They were asked to conduct a detailed survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, the detailed report of which was to be submitted before the court by May 17.
For digital media and television channels, the incident was like manna from heaven -- a lucrative opportunity to garner viewership. It soon manifested as one of the highest-rated events in the day-night programming of all the channels. One could only estimate it from the fact that over the first fortnight of May, more than 150 videos related to this issue have been shared on the YouTube channel of ‘Aaj Tak’, while channels like Zee News, News18 India, Republic and TV9 Bharatvarsh discussed this issue day and night.
Until a few days ago, the Indian media, which presented news related to the Russia-Ukraine war like a circus, had got a new item. It is no exaggeration that Indian media is at present witnessing a circus every day.
On May 16, when the Kashi Vishwanath/Vishweshwar Shivling was alleged to be found in the Gyanvapi Mosque complex, the channels broadcast news about it without seeking any confirmation. Some claimed the size of the Shivling to be 3 feet, while others took it to 6 feet, and still others to 12 feet. Some went ahead and started spinning tales of detecting the presence of an even bigger Shivling, even though the District Magistrate had not confirmed any such thing. Some media organisations attested that this alleged Shivling was made of black stone, while some avowed it to be that of emerald.
Shortly afterwards, a video went viral on social media, in which, one can see a cylindrical stone-like shape visible in the middle of a well-like structure. The Hindu side started asserting it to be the Shivling of Lord Vishweshwar, while the Muslim side started claiming it to be a fountain.
The main basis of this claim of the Hindu side rose first from the statement made by Sohan Lal Arya, husband to one of the five plaintiffs. Arya quoted Kabir, “Jin khoja tin paiya, gehre paani paith (Found where you searched, deep underwater)". He further opined that the ‘Baba’ that Nandi had been waiting for, has finally been found.
Last year, when the lower court had ordered an archaeological survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex under the land ownership suit that has been going on since 1991, the High Court had stayed it. Nonetheless, this time, as soon as the news of the survey came under the direction of the court commissioner in this case related to Shringar Gauri, the media pounced on it immediately.
The news media gave prominence to the statement of almost every person who is not involved in the case, be it Sohan Lal Arya, the surveying cameraman or others. Most channels were persistent in going against media ethics and running one-sided news. Following a complaint by fellow court commissioner Vishal Kumar Singh, the trial court removed advocate Mishra, the commissioner first appointed by the court, for leaking survey information to the media.
Serious questions will continue to arise again and again on the reporting of the media on this entire episode. The day and night reporting has somehow contributed to this whole issue promoting animosity in society. Two comments are important in this context, the first of judge Diwakar, who is hearing this case in the lower court: “An atmosphere of fear was created by making this civil case into an extraordinary case. The fear is so much that my family is always concerned about my safety and I am concerned about their safety. Concerns about safety are repeatedly expressed by my wife when I am out of the house.”
The judge added, “Yesterday, my mother (in Lucknow) during our conversation also expressed concerns about my safety, and from the news received by the media, she came to know that maybe I am also going to the spot as commissioner and my mother asked me that I should not go on commission on the spot, as it may endanger my safety”.
The second comment was made by the Supreme Court bench while hearing the matter on May 20, and claimed that measures undertaken to protect the area will not impede Muslims' right to offer namaz and perform other religious observances. The court added that “peace is uppermost on their minds” and it has a duty to “maintain balance and fraternity between two communities”. What is to happen in the times to come, cannot be anticipated. The anticipation itself is worrying for a democracy.
