Gyanvapi case: Why has a Hindu petitioner sought President's nod for euthanasia?

A lead plaintiff in the Gyanvapi Masjid case has sought President Droupadi Murmu’s permission for euthanasia. Rakhi Singh, the main petitioner seeking the right to daily worship inside Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque, wrote an open letter to the president on Wednesday (7 June). This comes days after Vishwa Vedic Sanathan Sangh chief Jitender Singh Vishen, who is also Singh’s uncle, said he and his family members will no longer pursue Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple cases citing harassment. “In such a situation, due to limited strength and resources, I cannot fight this battle for ‘dharma’ anymore and that’s why I am quitting this… This society is only with those who mislead by playing gimmicks in the name of religion,” Vishen said last Saturday (4 June), as per NDTV. Why has Rakhi Singh sought euthanasia and what are the rules for it in India? Is there a rift between the Hindu petitioners? Let’s take a closer look. Gyanvapi petitioner writes to President In her letter to Murmu, Rakhi Singh said she is “considering euthanasia” due to mental agony. She, along with four other Hindu women, had filed a petition in a Varanasi court in August 2021, seeking the right to daily worship at Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal in the Gyanvapi mosque complex, adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Rakhi Singh has now alleged that the other four petitioners in the case, their lawyer Harishankar Jain and his son Vishnu Jain have defamed her. “In the case, my associates, including Lakshmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas, Rekha Pathak, along with (senior) advocate Harishankar Jain, his son advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain and their few colleagues, did a false propaganda and defamed me and my uncle and aunt Jitendra Singh Visen and Kiran Singh in May 2022,” she said in the letter, according to Hindustan Times (HT). Singh also claimed that a “rumour” was being spread that she was withdrawing from the case, while “neither any such statement or information was issued from my side nor my uncle Jitendra Singh Visen, pleader on my behalf in the said case, issued any such information,” reported HT. [caption id=“attachment_12709272” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Five Hindu women petitioners have sought the right to offer daily prayers inside the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi. Reuters File Photo[/caption] The plaintiff said due to this “false propaganda”, she and her uncle’s family have come under immense “mental pressure”. “Thus, the entire Hindu society has been raised against me and my family by creating a confusion about us in the entire country due to which I and the entire family of Visenji have come under a lot of mental pressure”. “You are requested to pave the way for me to get rid of this immense mental pain and agony by granting me the permission for euthanasia so that I can attain ultimate peace by sleeping eternally,” she wrote in the letter, as per Indian Express.  She also said that she will wait for the president’s reply till 9 June and if no reply is received, then she would take her own decision. ALSO READ: The Famous Five: The Hindu women petitioners fighting to pray at the Gyanvapi mosque What do the rules in India say about euthanasia? Before that, let’s understand what is euthanasia. Euthanasia is when active steps are taken to end someone’s life to stop their suffering or intolerable pain. As per The Guardian, the fatal act is administered by someone else, mostly a doctor. If the suffering person themselves requests the procedure, it is called “voluntary euthanasia”. Passive euthanasia refers to the “withdrawal or withholding of life-preserving treatments” at the request of the patient or a family member, according to Euronews. Euthanasia is also described as “mercy killing” sometimes.

In India, active euthanasia is not legal.

However, in a landmark judgement in 2018, the Supreme Court legalised passive euthanasia with strict conditions. Recognising the “living will” made by terminally-ill patients who could go into a permanent vegetative state, the apex court laid out the guidelines for the process, including who would execute the will and the role of medical boards in granting passive euthanasia. “We declare that an adult human being having mental capacity to take an informed decision has right to refuse medical treatment including withdrawal from life-saving devices,” the apex court said in the 2018 order. “Life and death are inseparable. Every moment our bodies undergo change… life is not disconnected from death. Dying is a part of the process of living,” the court had noted. In January this year, the top court further relaxed the procedure for passive euthanasia. Is there a rift among petitioners? Dismissing Singh’s allegations, lawyer Harishankar Jain, said, as per HT, “We are contesting the Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi and other related cases with full dedication. All allegations are baseless. I don’t want to waste my energy and time by reacting to baseless allegations”. Rekha Pathak, another plaintiff in the case, has called Singh’s allegations “false”, reported HT.  Moreover, Rakhi Singh claims that her uncle has not withdrawn from the case, but Vishen had previously announced his intention to do so. [caption id=“attachment_12709292” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] There seem to be differences between the five Hindu women petitioners. PTI File Photo[/caption] As per The New Indian Express (TNIE) report, Vishen said in a statement on Saturday: “I and my family (wife Kiran Singh and niece Rakhi Singh) are withdrawing from all Gyanvapi-related cases that we had filed in the interest of the country and religion in various courts”. His remarks came days after the Varanasi district court directed the consolidation of all seven cases of the same nature related to the Gyanvapi mosque. As per reports, he was not in favour of the consolidation of the cases. Vishen had told Indian Express earlier that the “claim for the Gyanvapi mosque has been lost due to some vested interests.” Jain, who represents the four other plaintiffs, had disagreed with Vishen. “That is his understanding. As a lawyer, I have a different understanding than him… He does not know the first thing about the law. Everyone has a right to have an opinion… I only do my work. I don’t say anything about anyone… I am working for the cause of Hindutva and I am doing the best for my cases,” the lawyer was quoted as saying by Indian Express. The Gyanvapi case is currently before the Varanasi district court. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.