The visuals of grand Kashi Vishwanath Mandir brought tears to the eyes of this Muslim man from West Bengal as he was in pain at not being able to see the mosque from across the high walls. In a video shared by YouTube channel UP Tak, the man, who had come to pray at the Gyanvapi mosque, which was built on orders of Aurangzeb after destruction of the original temple on the ground where it stands, was even seen crying.
At around 4 minutes 45 seconds into the video, one man, Naushad Alam, says that he’s from Kolkata and is a visitor and had come to offer namaz at the mosque next to the grand temple. “I don’t understand the situation here. They have hidden the mosque and the mandir is made in such a grand manner. What is this? I am a tourist here. I can see the things, I feel the pain, you know,” he said.
When asked whether he thinks the entire mosque is hidden, Alam got a little angry and said, “Can’t you see? Can you see the mosque? I am from Kolkata, I feel the pain. I cannot tolerate it. How can you all just hide the facts. You all should see what is going on. It is not tolerant (sic). People are misguided.”
Although Alam was clearly not comfortable in English, he chose the language to express his anguish, which showed how strongly not only he felt the anguish, he was determined to let fellow citizens know the pain he felt. UP Tak reporter was visibly moved as she didn’t want him to go without relieving his feelings fully. She then asked him to switch to Hindi so his pain could reach a wider audience.
He further questioned whether it is fair to hide one thing while making another thing grander. He said that this is Hindustan and a democracy and everyone has a right. “Constitution grants equal rights, can you suppress one’s rights? Is this right?” he said. He said that he was visiting for the first time and offered namaz for the first time in the mosque. “I am so paid that I have never been this pained in 40 years,” he said.
When the UP Tak journalist saw Alam get emotional, she asked, “You’ve become emotional,”. To which, Alam cried. As he started to walk away crying, the journalist tried to console him and asked him if he thinks there is one-sided development happening. “Leave ‘vikas’. Someone’s right is being suppressed,” he said before walking away trying to hide his tears.
The Kashi Vishwanath temple was destroyed in 1669 by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. In his order, he had written that the temple was the place where “the foolish Pundits teach evil knowledge from junk books.” Prior to that, many Muslim invaders like Mohammad Gaori, Shah Mahmud Shah and others had looted and destroyed the temple. Aurangzeb not only issued a decree to demolish the temple but also passed orders to convert the priests to Islam. One of the reasons for his anger was the education provided at the temple premises.
On September 2, 1669, the emperor was informed that not only the temple had been destroyed, but a mosque had been built at the place. The ruins of the temple are clearly visible from outside the mosque. The mosque, Gyanvapi, which clearly has the ruins of temple visible on the walls, stands where it was. Just that the temple next to it now stands grander.