The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the main Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh, have taken a combative stand against the BJP on the Gyanvapi mosque court proceedings and alleged the role of the ruling party in the ongoing legal controversy.
Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Wednesday said the BJP and its allies were selectively targeting specific religious places to divert public attention from increasing poverty, unemployment and soaring inflation. “The situation could deteriorate any moment due to this,” Ms. Mayawati said here.
The BSP chief said the way in which religious sentiments of people were being stoked “as part of a conspiracy” in the name of “Gyanvapi, Mathura, Taj Mahal and other places” would make the country weaker and not stronger. The BJP should draw its attention to this, she added.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the Gyanvapi issue was a “conspiracy” of the BJP and its “invisible friends” and “hidden friends.”
The BJP rakes up Gyanvapi-like events directly or through its invisible or hidden friends, he said.
“On the BJP’s directions, its invisible associates emerge and deliberately sow seeds of hate,” Mr. Yadav told reporters in Azamgarh.
Mr. Yadav said the Gyanvapi mosque was an old one and that even the Supreme Court had said that old disputes could not be raised now.
The discussion on communal issues was diverting attention from basic questions such as inflation, Mr. Yadav said.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, while urging the government to clarify its position on the Places of Worship Act, 1991, also sought a clarification from the so-called non-BJP “secular” parties.
“Political parties that call themselves secular and just are also silent on the issue, and they are not coming to the fore against this false propaganda the way they should. We hope that they will clarify their position and also stand for the protection of the Constitution and secular character of the country and a clear and loud voice shall be raised by them,” the AIMPLB said.
Legal committee
The AIMPLB, which convened an emergency meeting of its working committee on Tuesday, constituted a legal committee to look into the Places of Worship Act, 1991. The committee will review all the cases related to the Gyanvapi mosque and other mosques and take appropriate legal action, the AIMPLB said.
A peaceful people’s movement could be started, if required, the AIMPLB said.
A local court in Varanasi is on Thursday expected to receive a commission report on the videography of the Gyanvapi mosque premises and the Shringar Gauri site outside it after five Hindu plaintiffs had approached it demanding year-long access to perform pooja at the site.
