India
‘Gyanvapi is not a mosque, but Vishwanath himself’: UP CM Yogi Adityanath | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday objected to the description of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi as a Muslim place of worship, saying it is more like Vishwanath (Lord Shiva).
“Unfortunately, people call Gyanvapi a mosque, but it is actually Vishwanath itself,” CM Yogi said while speaking in Gorakhpur.
Yogi Adityanath alleged that devotees visiting the site feel that there is confusion about the true identity or name of the site, not only about offering prayers and worshipping at that site but also about “national unity and integrity”.
“If our society had understood and recognised this problem earlier, our country would never have been colonised,” the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister also quoted a story from Hindu mythology about the meeting of Adi Shankaracharya with Lord Shiva in Kashi, now called Varanasi.
The UP chief minister’s statement came a day after a Varanasi court rejected the Hindu side’s plea to repair and restore the “Vyas Ka Tahkhana” and stop the gathering of namazis over it. The court’s decision came on a petition by the Hindu side, seeking repairs to the basement, while considering objections by the Muslim side and related cases pending in the Supreme Court.
The Hindu side claims that a temple once stood at the disputed site. Gyanvapi Mosque site, which they claim was destroyed in the 17th century by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb – a claim denied by the Muslims.
In February, a court in Varanasi passed a verdict Hindu devotees permission to pray in the locked basement of the Gyanvapi Mosque. According to the court order, they were allowed to pray in ‘Vyas Ka Tekhana’, a restricted area inside the mosque.
“Unfortunately, people call Gyanvapi a mosque, but it is actually Vishwanath itself,” CM Yogi said while speaking in Gorakhpur.
Yogi Adityanath alleged that devotees visiting the site feel that there is confusion about the true identity or name of the site, not only about offering prayers and worshipping at that site but also about “national unity and integrity”.
“If our society had understood and recognised this problem earlier, our country would never have been colonised,” the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister also quoted a story from Hindu mythology about the meeting of Adi Shankaracharya with Lord Shiva in Kashi, now called Varanasi.
The UP chief minister’s statement came a day after a Varanasi court rejected the Hindu side’s plea to repair and restore the “Vyas Ka Tahkhana” and stop the gathering of namazis over it. The court’s decision came on a petition by the Hindu side, seeking repairs to the basement, while considering objections by the Muslim side and related cases pending in the Supreme Court.
The Hindu side claims that a temple once stood at the disputed site. Gyanvapi Mosque site, which they claim was destroyed in the 17th century by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb – a claim denied by the Muslims.
In February, a court in Varanasi passed a verdict Hindu devotees permission to pray in the locked basement of the Gyanvapi Mosque. According to the court order, they were allowed to pray in ‘Vyas Ka Tekhana’, a restricted area inside the mosque.
