BSP chief Mayawati, others react to Gyanvapi row

“Religious places here are being targeted by BJP and its associates to divert attention from unemployment, skyrocketing inflation, and other issues. This is not hidden from anyone. This can affect the situation here at any time," Mayawati said.

Varanasi:With the Gyanvapi issue taking most of the limelight in the country, several popular faces are coming forward, opining on the matter. BSP Chief Mayawati on May 18 said that the religious places here are being targeted by the BJP and its associates to divert attention from unemployment, skyrocketing inflation, and other issues. She further called it a conspiracy to provoke religious sentiments of the people.

“Religious places here are being targeted by BJP and its associates to divert attention from unemployment, skyrocketing inflation, and other issues. This is not hidden from anyone. This can affect the situation here at any time. Years after independence, the manner in which religious sentiments of people are being instigated under a conspiracy, under the pretext of Gyanvapi, Mathura, Taj Mahal, and other places will not strengthen the country. BJP needs to take note of it,” she said.

Meanwhile, claiming that the country today is suffering more than what it had to when Pakistan was created, Ittihad-e-Millat Council (IMC) president Maulana Tauqir Raza Khan has alleged an attempt is being made to divide people through the politics of hatred. His statement comes in the backdrop of the ongoing row over the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.

"If force is used in any mosque, the government will have to bear the brunt of it," he told the media on Tuesday. Khan is a religious leader of the Barelvi sect of Sunni Muslims.

The RSS, on the other hand, said the facts should be allowed to come out. Speaking at an event organized by the RSS' communication arm Indraprastha Vishwa Samvad Kendra (IVSK), the Sangh's publicity in-charge Sunil Ambekar touched upon the issue. "I think, on the Gyanvapi issue facts should be allowed to come out. Truth should find its way out," he said.

The mosque is located close to the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, and a local court is hearing a plea by a group of Hindu women seeking permission for daily prayers before the idols on its outer walls.

(With agency inputs