All India Majlis e- Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday dubbed the survey of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh as an open violation of the Places of Worship Act 1991, which prohibits conversion of religious places.
On Friday a court-ordered a survey of Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath temple and Gyanvapi Mosque, and videography of the premises. On Saturday a court commissioner came and started the work in accordance with a court order.
“In Babri Masjid title dispute case, the Supreme Court rejected the survey report stating it holds no relevance, the court had said that the Places of Worship Act 1991 is part of the constitution. Any lower court cannot go beyond the Supreme Court observations or against any Act passed by the Parliament,” Asaduddin Owaisi told reporters at a press conference on Saturday.
He targeted the Narendra Modi government and the Yogi Adityanath government for failing to approach the court and explain the Places of Worship Act 1991 that clearly states that no religious place existed on 15 August 1947 or prior to it should be disturbed.
“It was the constitutional responsibility of the government because they do religious politics, they did not go and kept their eyes closed. The Sangh Parivar and the BJP are fuelling the issue; they want to create an atmosphere of hate that prevailed in the 1990s,”
In response to the statement of BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who said “those who are playing politics over the loudspeakers issue are either conspirators or sanghis,” the senior Owaisi said the party with which Mukhtar Abbas is associated is hatching loudspeaker conspiracy.
The AIMIM chief said minorities are systematically targeted across the country. “In Khargone, a man who is physically challenged was booked and arrested for pelting stones and a senior citizen of 70 years of age was brutally thrashed. The police are blind and claim stones are pelted on processions from Muslim localities,” he said. He asked the management of mosques, dargahs, and temples to install HD cameras to monitor processions. “Telecast the processions live on Facebook whenever they pass by,” he said.
| Posted by Veena Nair | 
