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As Gyanvapi row rages, BJP leaders target Places of Worship Act

They feel discovery of Shivling directly challenges the law

gyanvapi reuters The Gyanvapi mosque | Reuters

A civil court in Varanasi was scheduled to pronounce on Wednesday its order on a demand by Hindu petitioners to demolish a wall beneath the ablution pond of the Gyanvapi mosque complex. However, reports said the hearing was postponed due to a strike by lawyers.

The ablution pond at the complex had come into focus after claims that a Shivling was found inside it on Monday. The discovery of the Shivling has been cited as evidence of the fact that the site was a temple previously. Advocate Vishnu Jain, representing the Hindu side, told ANI the petitioners want to be allowed entry to the complex.

While the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has acted cautiously on the Gyanvapi issue, voices are growing in the BJP backing the demand for “return” of the site as a Hindu shrine. These voices are calling for a re-look at the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This legislation, which was passed by the P.V. Narasimha Rao government, provides for keeping status quo on places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947. The only exception to this was the Ram Janmabhumi site, for which an agitation was going on when the legislation was passed.

The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, has been cited as an argument to negate calls for return of disputed structures at Kashi and Mathura.

The Indian Express reported on Wednesday that some office-bearers of the BJP have spoken about a debate on the legislation.

Former Chhattisgarh home minister Brijmohan Agrawal of the BJP was quoted by ANI as saying the Narasimha Rao government brought in the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act “due to appeasement”. Agrawal said “Lord Shiva was worshipped in Gyanvapi before 2001 but due to that bill Namaz started happening. Even today 'Nandi Maharaj' sits in front of mosque.”

Former BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy tweeted on Wednesday “Why is[PM Narendra] Modi not moving to scrap it [legislation] by moving the Parliament and voting [it] out.”

On Monday, former BJP national general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao tweeted continuation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act “is highly difficult... It will have to be repealed in near future. Stopping this from happening highly impossible”.

The Indian Express article quoted a “senior BJP leader” as saying the discovery of a Shivling posed a “direct challenge” to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act. “The finding of Shivling in the mosque changes everything. If it’s proved that it’s a Shivling, not a stone fountainhead as the caretakers of the mosque claim, no force in the world can stop the next steps. Then the game is over. Restoration of puja becomes imminent because idols or deities cannot stay without puja,” he told The Indian Express.

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