As the dispute over Varanasi's Gyanvapi heats up, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said that the Hindus are asking for only three places - Ayodhya, Kashi, and Mathura. He said the Hindus are asking for these places because they are 'vishisht sthals' (important places). "They are extraordinary, and place of god's incarnation. We can't treat them like any other place," the chief minister said while speaking in the Assembly.
Like Ayodhya, where Hindus claimed that a temple was destroyed to build a mosque, cases are also going in courts for Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque and Mathura's Shahi Idgah Masjid. Hindus cite records to say that Gyanvapi, which is next to the ancient Kashi Vishwanath Temple, and Shahi Idgah Masjid, which is close to Krishna Janmsthan, were built after destroying temples.
Also read: Varanasi court allows Hindu side to offer prayers at Gyanvapi
Today, Yogi said that Hindus have been asking for three places but there is stubbornness and when politics gets involved in it, it creates division and dispute. "We have asked for only three places, and there was no dispute for other places," he said. The chief minister further said that people saw the celebrations at Ayodhya after the construction of Ram Temple but hinted that the demand for Kashi and Mathura will continue.
"People saw the celebration of Shri Ayodhya Dham. Nandi Baba also said why should I wait, and our Krishna Kanhaiya is also not going to accept this," he said in an apparent reference to a court order that allowed Hindus to offer prayers before the idols in a cellar of the Gyanvapi.
During his address, the chief minister referred to Mahabharat and said that the Pandavas were also demanding only five villages but even that could not be given by Duryodhan. "At that time, Krishna went to the Kauravas and sought only five villages. Keep the rest with yourself, Krishna told them. Duryodhan woh bhi de na saka, ashish samaj ki le na saka. This is what happened with Ayodhya, Kashi, and Mathura. Krishna wanted five villages and the Hindu society has been seeking only three places - the centres of our faith," the chief minister said.
Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvali case, on January 25 said that the Archaeological Survey (ASI) has in its report clearly suggested that the Gyanvapi mosque is built on a Hindu temple. He said the ASI has stated that Sculptures of Hindu deities and carved architectural members were found buried under the dumped soil.
"Existing architectural remains, decorated mouldings on the walls, a large decorated entrance gate, a small entrance with a mutilated image, and birds and animals carved for decoration in and outside suggest that the western wall is the remaining part of a Hindu temple," the ASI has said according to Jain.
The Arabic Persian inscription found inside a room mentions that the mosque was built in the 20th regnal year of Aurangzeb. Hence, the advocate said, the preexisting structure appears to have been destroyed in the 17th century. "Based on the scientific survey of architectural remains, exposed features, and artefacts inscriptions, art, and sculptures, it can be said that there existed a Hindu temple before the construction of the existing structure."