"Why are BJP, RSS spreading hatred over mosques and dargahs?": Owaisi amid Ajmer Dargah row

New Delhi: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi targeted the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) following the recent controversy regarding Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan.
Earlier, a Rajasthan court accepted a petition submitted by the Hindu Sena claiming Ajmer Sharif Dargah to be Lord Shiva's temple.
Speaking to ANI over the same, Owaisi highlighted the history of the dargah and said that previous Prime Ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru have sent "chadars" to the dargah.
"The dargah has been there for the last 800 years. At that time, the Mughals were ruling. Emperor Akbar erected many things there. Then Marathas came to rule Later, Ajmer was sold to the British for Rs 18,000. When Queen Elizabeth visited in 1911, they constructed a water house there. Prime Ministers starting from Nehru have been sending 'Chadar' to the dargah. PM Modi too sends 'Chadar' there. Why have BJP-RSS spread this hatred regarding mosques and dargahs?" Owaisi remarked.
AIMIM MP Owaisi further questioned the conduct of lower courts, implying that the Places of Worship Act was being ignored.
"Why are the lower courts not hearing the Places of Worship Act?" he asked.
"They have made the Ministry for Minority Affairs a party (in this case). What will the Modi government tell them? Why are the lower courts not hearing the Places of Worship Act? You will go everywhere and say that there was something else in place of a mosque or dargah. Next time, a Muslim would also go somewhere and say that this didn't exist here. Where will this stop? What about the rule of law? Where will the democracy go?" Owaisi asked.
"The governance of Modi and RSS was weakening the brotherhood and rule of law in the country," he said, adding that, "they will have to answer for this."
"We have seen in Sambhal that five people lost their lives. This is not in favour of the country. The governance of Modi and RSS is weakening the country, brotherhood, and rule of law. They will have to answer this. All this is being done on the directions of BJP-RSS," Owaisi said.
Congress MP Imran Masood said earlier that PM Modi should look into the matter related to Ajmer Sharif Dargah and the Supreme Court must take cognizance.
He accused the Union government of sidelining the Places of Worship Act and expressed his concerns over such incidents, saying that such things would set the whole country on fire.
"Such things will set the whole country on fire. What is happening? The PM should look into this matter, and the Supreme Court should take cognisance of this matter. Where do you want to sideline a whole community? You are not leaving their religious places and properties. Where do you want to sideline us? Where do we go? Exile us from the country. Under which mosques will you look for temples? Is there any limit or not? They (the central government) have kept aside the Worship Act 1991. Will they (the BJP) burn the whole nation for their political benefit? Jab aag lagti hai to sabke ghar lagti hai (When the fire rages, it rages everywhere)," Imran Masood said.
Syed Naseruddin Chishty, Chairman of the All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council, said earlier that Rajasthan's Ajmer court has ordered the issuance of notices to three parties, including the Dargah Committee, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and the Ministry of Minority Affairs, in response to a petition claiming there is a Shiva temple inside Ajmer Dargah.
"The concerned parties have been issued notices, one is the Dargah Committee, the ASI, and the third is the Ministry of Minority Affairs. I am a descendant of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty, but I have not been made party to it. We are in touch with our legal team," he told ANI.
Chishty criticised the rise in incidents where various groups are claiming mosques and dargahs.
"These incidents are on the rise in the country. Every second day we see groups claiming mosques and dargahs. This is not in the interest of our society and country. Today India is becoming a global power..Till when will we remain stuck in the temple and mosque controversy?" he said.
Chishty further urged the intervention of the Central Government into the matter adding that a law should be made and guidelines should be issued so that no one claims religious organisations such as these.
"Ajmer has a history of 850 years... I appeal to the government of India to intervene in this. A new law should be made and guidelines should be issued so that no one claims religious organisations such as these... In 2022, (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat had said that how long will we keep finding Shivalayas in mosques, and I agree with him," he said.
Earlier this month, a survey team that arrived at the Shahi Jama Masjid to survey the mosque in Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh amid heavy police deployment faced stone-pelting from some "anti-social elements".
This survey was part of a legal process following a petition filed by senior advocate Vishnu Shanker Jain, who claimed the mosque was originally a temple.