The vice president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Malik Moatasim Khan, has expressed concern over the misleading campaign regarding Gyanvapi Masjid.
In an official statement issued on Wednesday, January 31, he said that they were concerned over certain sectarian and mischievous people orchestrating a misleading campaign regarding the Gyanvapi mosque.
Malik said, “The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report is being misinterpreted and circulated with the express intent of misleading the public, influencing the judiciary, and spoiling the communal harmony in the country by creating a rift between two religious communities. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind believes that the ASI report does not constitute conclusive evidence in this controversial matter.”
While highlighting the need to abide by the Places of Worship Act 1991, the vice president JIH stated that the Act provides a guarantee for the preservation of the religious character of places of public worship as they existed on August 15, 1947.
He also highlighted how it can create chaos if any religious community stakes its claim to the places of worship belonging to other religious communities. He said, “Buddhists claim more than 84,000 Buddhist viharas, stupas, and statues were demolished by Hindu kings. Jains claim that thousands of Jain mandirs have been converted to Hindu mandirs, and almost all the popular Hindu pilgrimage places were once upon a time Jain mandirs.”
Meanwhile, Hindus have a list of 2,000 mosques in the country that they claim were built over Hindu temples. “Will these places of worship be handed over to their new claimants,” he asked while underscoring how it can lead to chaos and anarchy.
Claiming that the ASI report on the Babri Masjid case was false, he further said, “The Supreme Court of India gave precedence to the opinion of prominent archaeologists who denied any possibility of the Babri Masjid being built by demolishing a pre-existing Ram temple.”
He averred that the JIH “regrets that efforts are being made to influence state institutions to make them biased to favor a particular community by compromising on the principles of truth and justice. We appeal to the people of the country not to form any opinion on the Gyanwapi Masjid until the final decision is announced by the judiciary. India is a secular and democratic country and does not accord any special rights or privileges to people of a particular religion or culture.”
