"People sitting in power taking country backwards": Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav on Ajmer Dargah row

New Delhi: Reacting to a civil suit which claiming a Shiva temple within the Ajmer Sharif dargah, Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav on Thursday said those who are in power are "working in one direction" to divert people's attention and trying to take the country backward.
"The people sitting in power are trying to take this country backwards. They don't want the youth to get employment. They are working in one direction to divert the people's attention from the main issues," the SP leader said.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament during the ongoing Winter Session, Dimple Yadav further said that the Opposition has asked for a discussion in Lok Sabha on the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal.
"We want the Sambhal incident to be discussed in the Lok Sabha. We have been assured by the Speaker that he will get it discussed. There is a complete roadmap by which UP police are harassing and manipulating the people...We are saying that this has been conducted in a well-planned manner," she said.
Earlier, a Rajasthan court accepted a petition submitted by the Hindu Sena claiming Ajmer Sharif Dargah to be Lord Shiva's temple.
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.
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 said.
Vishnu Gupta, President of the National Hindu Army, who filed a case claiming a Lord Shiva temple within Ajmer's Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah shrine on Wednesday, said that the local court in Ajmer has admitted the case and the next hearing will be held on December 20.
"The court admitted our case and issued notices to the Dargah Committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey Department. The next date of hearing is 20th December," Vishnu Gupta said.
On Wednesday, a local court in Ajmer directed that notice be issued to three parties in the civil suit which claims the presence of a Shiva temple inside the dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, the plaintiff's advocate said.
Advocate Yogesh Siroja told reporters in Ajmer that the suit was heard in the court of Civil Judge Manmohan Chandel.
"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 said.
Syed Naseruddin Chishty, Chairman of the All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council, criticised the rise in incidents where various groups are staking claim to 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.