Pune:Treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, Govind Dev Giri Maharaj has said that after the construction of Ram Mandir at the site of the now demolished Babri Masjid in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, two more temples in Kashi and Mathura should be “freed peacefully”. Addressing a press conference in Maharashtra's Alandi, Govind said that the Hindu community will “forget about temples destroyed by foreign invaders as soon as Kashi and Mathura temples are freed peacefully”.
The treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra claimed that as many as 3,500 temples have been “demolished in foreign attacks”. Giri's statement comes amid the ongoing religious programmes, which are being held between Feb 4 and Feb 11 for his 75th birth anniversary. “I have already said that after the three temples merge peacefully, we will not look at any other temples,” Giri said, adding, “We have to live in the future, not in the past”.
“All the people of the country want that the future of the country should be good, hence these people should honestly hand over these three temples to us with love and happiness. We will forget all the past,” he added. Giri also asked the Muslim community to support his demand of handing over the “temples in Kashi and Mathura” to the Hindus.
Giri's statement also comes days after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) claimed in its survey report of the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi that the mosque had been built on the remnants of an ancient Hindu temple. Following the ASI report, a judge at the District Court Varanasi allowed the Hindus to hold puja inside the basement of the Gyanvapi mosque.
The permission by the judge came a day before his retirement leaving the Muslim side agitated.
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