"Only two cellars of Gyanvapi mosque have been opened": Giriraj Singh

New Delhi [India], January 31 (ANI): Union Minister Giriraj Singh said on Wednesday that only two cellars have been opened in the basement of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, while 8 cellars are still closed.
He was responding to an order from Varanasi Court on Wednesday allowing Hindu devotees to offer prayers inside the 'Vyas Ka Tekhana' area inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
Singh told ANI, "Only two cellars have been opened in Gyanvapi till now. Eight of them are still left..."
"Hindus earlier also used to offer prayers. What the court has given (order) is not a new thing," he added.
The court has asked the district administration to make the necessary arrangements in the next seven days.
Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side told ANI, " ...Puja will start within seven days. Everyone will have the right to perform Puja..."
"Hindu side allowed to offer prayers at 'Vyas Ka Tekhana'. The District Administration will have to make arrangements within 7 days," Jain said.
Advocate Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi, another Hindu side lawyer, told ANI, "...Today the right has been given to perform puja (prayers) at 'Vyas Ka Tekhana' and the court has given the order to the district officer for compliance of the order within a week..."
Petitioners and advocates representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi case flashed a victory sign after the court order.
The mosque has four 'tahkhanas' (cellars) in the basement out of which one is still in possession of the Vyas family who used to live here.
Vyas had petitioned that as hereditary pujari he be allowed to enter the tahkhana and resume pooja.
On January 17, 'Vyas Ka Tekhana' was taken into possession by the district administration.
Somnath Vyas's family used to worship in the basement until 1993.
After 1993, the prayers were stopped in the basement on the orders of the then-state government. (ANI)