Gyanvapi: Mulayam govt stopped Hindus from praying, claims BJP

Lucknow: The 1993 Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh stopped Hindus from offering pujas in a cellar of Gyanvapi mosque as a part of a conspiracy, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya claimed on Saturday.

This week, Hindus resumed pujas in the said cellar, "Vyas ji ka tehkhana," where the Vyas family claimed to be offered prayers. This was after the Varanasi district court's orders.

It was Shailendra Kumar Pathak who filed a petition in the district court demanding right to worship there, claiming that his grandfather, Somnath Vyas, offered puja there up to December 1993 before the state administration stopped him.

According to Maurya, the Yadav government's move, out of a conspiracy, was criticised across the country.

"Our government was formed in 2017, and we could have started the puja, but we did not. Devotees of Lord Shiva also showed restraint, went to court, got orders from there and started worship. Due to this, not only us but all the people of the world who believe in Sanatan Dharma are equally happy," Maurya, a senior BJP leader, said, according to a statement issued by the organisers of the event.

Referring to the consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram temple, Maurya said it was a matter of pride for all.

"On January 22, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi consecrated the idol of Lord Ram in the grand temple in Ayodhya, I was heartened to know that the movement for which lakhs of Kar sevaks had pledged to sacrifice everything and hundreds of people sacrificed their lives has become successful," he said.

On Wednesday, the Varanasi district court allowed the resumption of Hindu prayers in the southern cellar of Gyanvapi Masjid, in a significant development in the legal battle over the mosque adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

The Gyanvapi Masjid committee has challenged the district court order in the Allahabad High Court, which will hear the matter on February 6.