Union Minister Giriraj Singh
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh on Friday said Muslims should hand over the Gyanvapi mosque site to Hindus, and said no statements should be made that can disrupt communal harmony.
The remarks came a day after the ASI survey report on the Gyanvapi mosque complex was made public, with the lawyer representing the Hindu litigants claiming that the mosque was built after demolishing a pre-existing temple.
"'The Pran Pratishtha (consecration) at the Ram temple (in Ayodhya) has been done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Sanatanis have welcomed it... But our demand has always been Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura," Singh said.
"I will appeal to my Muslim brothers, when all evidence are out, hand over Kashi to Hindus, so that communal harmony is maintained. We have not broken any mosques after independence, but there is no temple left in Pakistan," he claimed.
"I am saying this for harmony, don't make provocative statements. This is changed India, the Sanatani youth has awakened," the minister said.
"If someone tries to be Babur or Aurangzeb, youths will have to become Maharana Pratap. You should ensure peace is maintained, the ball is in your court," Singh added.
A Varanasi court on Wednesday ruled that the ASI survey report on the Gyanvapi mosque complex adjoining the Kashi Vishwanath temple will be given to both the Hindu and Muslim sides.
Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer of the Hindu petitioners in the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi case, told reporters in Varanasi that the copies of the 839-page report were made available to the parties concerned by the court late Thursday evening.
The report makes it clear that the mosque, which stands adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, was built on the remains of a grand Hindu temple after it was demolished in the 17th century during the reign of Aurangzeb, he said.