TMC leader Siddiqulla Chowdhury has issued a warning to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath over Hindu prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.
Chowdhary’s warning to Adityanth comes two days after the Varanasi district court fixed February 15 as the date for hearing the Gyanvapi Masjid committee's plea against the Varanasi district court's January 31 order ruling that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.
Chowdhary has reportedly said if "he(Yogi Adityanath) comes to Bengal, we will surround him".
He has also asked the Hindu worshippers to "vacate the Gyanvapi mosque immediately".
Chowdhary during a Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind’s rally in Kolkata also demanded ban on the 'puja' in the mosque.
He questioned if the Adityanath had "any sense" to allow such a move.
He said, “if he (Adityanath) sits somewhere (while in Bengal), he will not be allowed to go out".
"These people (Hindu worshippers) have forcefully started worshipping there. Vacate the Gyanvapi mosque immediately," he said.
He said that "we do not go to any temple to pray".
"So why are they coming to our mosques? A mosque is a mosque. If someone wants to convert the mosque into a temple, then we will not sit quiet. This will not happen,” he said.
"That (Gyanvapi) mosque has been there for more than 800 years. How will they demolish it?" he queried.
Earlier, as per the petition, Hindu priest Somnath Vyas used to perform prayers in the Gyanavapi’s southern cellar till 1993, when the cellar was closed by the authorities. Shailendra Kumar Pathak, maternal grandson of Somnath Vyas, had sought the right to worship the deities there.
