Accusing the Samajwadi Party and Congress of disrespecting Hindu faith, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday claimed that the Opposition parties earlier allowed namaz to be offered at the Hanumangarhi temple in Ayodhya.
While addressing a public gathering in Ayodhya’s Bikapur, Adityanath said that they should apologise for the “sin”.
The Chief Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 217 development projects worth over ₹432 crore during the event.
He said that those claiming to speak for faith had earlier committed the major “sin” of allowing namaz to be offered on the steps of Hanumangarhi.
“They had namaz offered at Hanumangarhi. Can anyone imagine Hanuman Chalisa being recited inside Jama Masjid? Can any government or the Samajwadi Party or the Congress ever make that happen? If not, then why was this sin committed at Hanumangarhi? Who was responsible for it?” PTI quoted Yogi Adityanath as saying.
He was apparently talking about the November 2003 incident when attempt was made to offer namaz outside the Hanumangarhi temple, dedicated to Lord Hanuman, but permission for the same was not granted by police.
Former UP Director General of Police and BJP MP Brij Lal told PTI, “This is correct. This incident dates back to November 2003 during the month of Ramzan… Back then, the BSP government led by Mayawati had exited,”
Brij Lal further recalled that the entire “namaz plan” was made during then Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government allegedly at the behest of “an officer with Samajwadi Party-Leftist leanings”.
“The plan was to hold roza iftaar after namaz. But this couldn’t succeed as the then SSP Faizabad (now Ayodhya) Rajeev Sabharwal firmly said he won’t allow this,” Brij Lal said.
Following the opposition, namaz was later offered at the residence of Hanumangarhi mahant adjacent to the temple.
“The original plan was to offer namaz right outside Hanumangarhi but police didn’t allow it,” Brij Lal told the news agency.
During the public gathering, Yogi Adityanath further claimed that the Samajwadi Party and Congress opposed the development of Ayodhya and created hurdles in the construction of the Ram Temple.
“They questioned the very existence of Lord Ram, fired bullets at Ram devotees and created an identity crisis for Ayodhya. After the double-engine government came to power, the grand Ram temple was built and no one could stop it. Today, lakhs of devotees visit Ayodhya every year,” he said.