Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath brewed a fresh controversy saying he wouldn’t attend the inauguration of the mosque to be built in Ayodhya, replacing the demolished Babri Masjid.
After the bhoomi pujan for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, Mr. Adityanath told a television channel that as a yogi and as a Hindu he couldn’t go for the inauguration of a mosque.
“If you ask me as a chief minister, I have no problem with any belief, religion or community. If you ask me as a yogi, I will definitely not go because as a Hindu I have the right to express my ‘upasana vidhi’ (way of worship) and act accordingly,” Mr. Adityanath said.
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also said he is unlikely to be invited for the inauguration of the mosque, that would be constructed in a five-acre plot handed over to the Muslims as per the Supreme Court verdict.
“I am neither the petitioner nor the respondent. That is why neither will I be invited, nor will I go. I know, I won’t be getting any such invitation, he said.
The day they invite me, secularism of many will be in danger. That’s why I want that their secularism should not be in danger and I continue to silently work to ensure that everyone benefits from government scheme without any discrimination,” he said taking a dig at the opposition.
Reacting to the remark, the opposition Samajwadi Party said he should seek an apology from the people of the State. SP spokesperson Pawan Pandey charged Mr. Adityanath of violating the oath he took while assuming charge as the chief minister.
“He is the CM of the entire state, and not only of the Hindu community. Whatever the population of Hindus and Muslims in the state, he is the CM of all. This language of the CM lacks dignity,” Mr. Pandey said, adding that he should seek an apology from the people for this.
UP Congress media cell convenor Lalan Kumar said, “We don’t have any comments on his mosque statement.” But he credited the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for opening the locks on the Babri Masjid premises.
Referring to the ruling BJP, the Congress spokesperson said, They play politics of fake Hindutva. The Congress has always talked about whatever is in the interest of people. Lord Ram belongs to all, but the BJP wants to show that Ram is theirs alone, he added.
Mr. Adityanath had attended the groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the main guest.
Last November, the Supreme Court had settled the Ayodhya land dispute, allowing the construction of the temple at Ram Janmabhoomi by a trust. The apex court had also ordered the allocation of a five-acre plot of land elsewhere in Ayodhya for the construction of a mosque, in place of the Babri Masjid which was demolished by ‘kar sevaks’ in 1992. A trust has been formed by the Sunni Waqf Board for building this mosque.