Seer Rishi Kumara Swami of Arsikere-based Kalika Mutt in Hassan has stoked another controversy by calling for the demolition of Jamia Masjid in Srirangapatna town in a video uploaded on his Facebook account, claiming that it is a Hanuman temple.
The seer was arrested on Tuesday in Chikkamagaluru for the post after a complaint by Yathiraj, a security guard of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The Jamia Masjid, which also houses a Madarasa, is conserved and maintained by the ASI.
Rishi Kumara had courted arrest earlier for his controversial statements on varied issues. He is also a singer and has also acted in a feature film and has participated in a television reality show.
The video had been shot on Sunday by one of the seer's assistants. In the video, he states that the sculpted pillars on the outer wall of the Masjid belong to a temple. “The building of a temple in Srirangapatna has been converted into a mosque. Hindus should wake up now. This is one of the mosques that should be demolished soon like the Babri Mosque of Ayodhya,” he says in the video.
After his arrest, Kumara Swami asserted that he stands by his words and claimed that the structure is a temple and not a mosque. “This structure should be demolished like the Babri Mosque. Pro-Hindu organisations should join hands and stay united until a Hanuman temple is constructed in Srirangapatna,” he said.
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