“Aapko kya lagta hai, ki koi masjid ki shilanyas mein mujhe bulayega? Koi mujhe bula payega? Mujhe lagta hai mere liye sankat nahin, sankat to unke liye hai. Isliye yeh duvidha na main paalta hoon na woh palte hein. Isliye kisi ko bhi iss prakar ki duvidha nahin palni chahiye (Do you think I will be invited for a ground-breaking ceremony for the mosque? I don’t think it is a problem for me as much as it is for them. Therefore, I don’t have any dilemma about it),” he said in separate interviews given to three different television channels.
He later clarified that as a CM, he did not distinguish between religions, castes and communities but as a yogi, as a Hindu, he would not go for such an event since he had the right to express himself in following his religion.
Ram temple in Ayodhya: Complete coverage
The CM praised Iqbal Ansari, one of the main litigants from the Muslim side, for having accepted the SC’s decision on the Ayodhya dispute. “People should take inspiration from him. He fought the case with all his might but also accepted the court’s decision. It is a reflection on our democratic system that as a Muslim, he felt safe in Ayodhya while fighting his case. Would a Hindu feel safe in Pakistan or Afghanistan if he was fighting for a temple?”
He said that “pseudo secularism” had become the basis for terrorism, riots and naxalism in the country and for opposing Hindus and added that the temple movement had unmasked “pseudo secularism”. Holding Congress responsible for the prolonged dispute over the Ram temple, Yogi said the “divisiveness” it had created suited the party.
“During elections they run to temples but on other occasions, they curse Hindus. This was not a matter of a temple but of the janmabhoomi where only Lord Ram will stay. The issue was of Lord Ram’s birth place and we wanted that place. Congress never wanted it there and saw advantage in dispute,” he said.
Yogi said one may change one’s way of worshipping but cannot change the ancestor.
The CM said that critics in India needed to learn from foreign nations like Muslim-dominated Indonesia, whose people actively participated in the Deepotsav programme in Ayodhya every year. “Majority of the performers are also Muslim and when I asked them about it, they said that they have the right to practise their religion but whatever religion they might follow, they cannot change their ancestors,” he said.
The CM revealed Prime Minister Modi never visited Ayodhya in the past six years as the court case was on. “He had also given strict instructions that nobody from the party should speak on the matter and if someone did, then an explanation was sought from them,” he said.
When asked whether the government would consider changing the name of Babar Road in Delhi, he said: “We have already changed the name of Faizabad and Allahabad. Things will be done at the right time. Wait and see.”
