Akhilesh Yadav, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and the Samajwadi Party chief has gone on to mock Hindu beliefs while disregarding claims that a Shivling has been unearthed inside the disputed Gyanpavi premises. Speaking at a press conference in Ayodhya, the SP chief insinuated that it is a make-belief temple within the disputed Gyanvapi mosque premises.
“In our faith, if you place a rock beneath a peepal tree and put a red flag on it, Hindus start worshipping it, believing it to be a temple,” the Samajwadi Party supremo stated, belittling the Hindu faith and beliefs.
“As far as the court is concerned, the SC had earlier ruled that such old matters cannot be raised. Even after this, the BJP is spreading hatred between Hindus and Muslims so that core issues are not discussed,” Yadav told reporters here.
The SP supremo, who had in 2020 declared that Shri Ram belongs to his party and he and his party men are Ram Bhakts and that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya would have been built in one year had there been a Samajwadi Party government in the state, went on to further cast doubts on the Ram Mandir alluding that the Hindus have acquired it by force. He said that “There was a time when idols were kept in Ayodhya in the dark hours of the night. BJP can do anything, the party cannot be trusted. The BJP is attempting to destabilise the atmosphere. The party is deliberately attempting to immerse people in issues of religion, caste, and religion to divert their attention from the real issues.
The SP chief also attacked the Center, claiming that the central government is striving for ‘One Nation, One Businessman’. He alleged that the government is selling off companies to big businessmen, banks are being merged, the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is being privatised, airports are being sold, state wheat is being sold to a handful of industrialists and being exported abroad and the BJP is using the Gyanvapi issue as a smokescreen to draw away the attention of the public from such genuine concerns.
He accused the current dispensation of using a ‘divide and rule’ policy to stay in power. There has never been such widespread injustice and oppression of the people as there is now under this administration. This regime simply uses religion and caste to intimidate people, said Akhilesh Yadav.
In an apparent reference to the drives against encroachments in the state, Yadav also attacked chief minister Yogi Adityanath and said bulldozers are running in the state but a hospital inaugurated by him was “illegal”. The CM had inaugurated a private hospital in Nirala Nagar on Monday.
Mulayam Singh, the father of Akhilesh Yadav had stopped Hindus from doing puja at Gyanvapi Shringar Gauri temple
Well, Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks against Hindus do not come as a surprise considering the political legacy Akhilesh Yadav has inherited from his father Mulayam Singh Yadav who had earned the sobriquet ‘Mullah Mulayam’ by the Muslim community for issuing brutal orders to fire at Hindu karsevaks who had gathered at the then disputed Babri structure site to reclaim the Janmabhoomi(birthplace) of Lord Rama.
At the height of his power, as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he felt emboldened enough to order firing upon Karsevaks during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement resulting in the death of innumerable Ram Bhakts. This episode, which was one of the worst cases of human rights violations in Independent India, was not the only instance where one could openly see Mulayam Singh Yadav’s animosity against Hindus.
In fact, in 2004, the Samajwadi Party patriarch had barred Hindus from worshipping at the Mata Shringar Gauri temple while he was the chief minister of the state. In fact, BJP spokesperson Prem Shukla had recently revealed how Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was then the CM of Uttar Pradesh, ordered to halt regular puja performed at the Maa Shringar Gauri Temple which was in violation of the Worship Act 1991. He had said that prior to his order, puja was performed in the Mata Shringar Gauri Sthal round the year.
Shukla accused Mulayam Singh Yadav of Muslim appeasement, stating that his government banned worship at Mata Shringar Gauri in 2004 due to their vote bank politics. He added that prayer in this temple had even continued after the Babri building was demolished in 1992.