“A mosque built after destroying the worship site of another religion is deemed impure,” Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Indresh Kumar said here on Thursday in a veiled reference to the Babri Masjid-Ram Jamnabhoomi dispute.
The RSS leader made the comment at an iftar party organised in the mid-19th century Sibtainabad Imam Bara by the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), the Muslim wing of the RSS, an organisation he heads.
After holding a roza iftar party at the Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, the MRM is holding more iftar gatherings in Uttar Pradesh. MRM officebearer Wasi Haider said the organisation has already held 20 iftar programmes across U.P. this Ramzan. The latest iftar get-togethers were held in Unnao and Ayodhya. Mr. Kumar personally attended the latter.
The controversial RSS leader, who was an accused in the Ajmer blast case, made several controversial statements, including the claim that the Prophet Mohammad preached the consumption of milk over meat.
The iftar party in Lucknow was attended by some local Shia Muslim leaders. The BJP government was represented by the Muslim Waqf and Haj Minister Lakshmi Narayan Singh, while Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi, chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, was also on the list of guests.
The MRM’s drive to host iftar parties comes even as there are signs that the Yogi Adityanath government might not host the traditional annual iftar party held by the incumbent chief minister in U.P.
At the MRM’s Ayodhya iftar, Muslims broke their fast with cow’s milk.
The MRM was set up in 2002 by the RSS at the initiative of its then chief K.S. Sudarshan to allow the Sangh Parivar to reach out to the Muslim community on various issues, including the vexed Ayodhya Ram Temple dispute.
( Inputs from PTI )
