HYDERABAD: Reacting to the Ajmer Sharif Dargah controversy in Rajasthan, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday questioned why the BJP and RSS were spreading hatred over mosques and dargahs when Prime Minister Narendra Modi sends a ‘chadar’ to the 800-year-old dargah every year.
His remarks come after a Rajasthan court issued notices to the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) following a lawsuit by a Hindu organisation claiming that a Shiva temple existed at the site of the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, the Hyderabad MP said the dargah has stood for 800 years. “The Mughals ruled at that time, and Emperor Akbar built many structures there. Then, the Marathas came to power, and the site was sold to the British for Rs 18,000. In 1911, when Queen Elizabeth visited, a water house was constructed. Starting from Nehru, every PM has sent a chadar to the dargah. Even PM Modi does. Why are the BJP and RSS now spreading hatred about mosques and dargahs?” he asked.
Owaisi criticised the handling of the case by lower courts, alleging that they are disregarding the Places of Worship Act. “Why are the lower courts not hearing cases under the Places of Worship Act? They have made the Ministry of Minority Affairs a party to this case. What will the Modi government tell them? You cannot keep going to different sites and claiming that mosques or dargahs were built over something else. Next, a Muslim might go and claim that something else didn’t exist in a certain place. Where does this stop? What about the rule of law? Where will democracy go?” the MP asked.
Owaisi alleged that the BJP and RSS, through their governance, are eroding the country’s brotherhood and the rule of law.