Yogi Adityanath’s statement on Gyanvapi has very much political significance. Yogi Adityanath’s political line is based on strict Hinduism and therefore whatever he says on Gyanvapi is automatically linked to the Ayodhya movement.
The question is, does Yogi Adityanath’s mention of Gyanvapi from the land of Gorakhpur indicate any new movement by the Sangh, BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad like Ayodhya or does it point to some new scheme of theirs like Love Jihad and Ghar Wapsi. Is it – or is it just an election slogan?
Yogi Adityanath claims that Gyanvapi is not a mosque. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad openly supported Yogi Adityanath’s statement, but the BJP seems to be avoiding it.
In the statement of the UP Chief Minister, Maulana Mufti Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, national president of the All India Muslim Congress, said that Gyanvapi Masjid is a historical mosque with centuries of history. Mufti Shahabuddin Razvi said that Yogi Adityanath is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, which means he does not belong to any particular religion – as people of all religions in Uttar Pradesh voted him as the Chief Minister.
Does the BJP disagree with Yogi’s views on Gyanvapi?
UP CM Yogi Adityanath was attending a Nath Panth seminar in Gorakhpur, during which he said that unfortunately, what some people call the Gyanvapi of the mosque today, is actually Vishwanath ji.
Yogi Adityanath said that Gyanvapi was the real form of Vishwanath. The tradition of Indian saints has always been unified. Yogi Adityanath also narrated an anecdote related to Adi Shankaracharya’s visit to Benares.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported the statement of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who said everyone knew the truth and it was not right to insist on building a mosque there in such circumstances.
Speaking to news agency IANS, VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said whatever the UP chief minister said should be taken seriously. The Gyanvapi issue must be resolved at the earliest. Kashi is not only a religious city but also a city of knowledge. Adi Guru Shankaracharya also attained enlightenment there.
Is the Kashi issue also being raised like in Ayodhya?
Recently, a Varanasi court dismissed a petition filed by the Hindu side in the Gyanwapi case to ban the namazi from entering the roof of Vyas’ basement. The court did not even accept the Hindu side’s demand for repairs but said that the puja will continue there.
Yogi Adityanath’s statement was also made at the same time. Not only that, by-elections are coming up for 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh and political parties are making full preparations.
The question is, is this seasonal politics or is the BJP preparing for a new campaign on Kashi – will the BJP raise the Kashi issue after the Ayodhya defeat?
Judging from the VHP’s response, the answer to this question is yes, but judging from the BJP’s response, the answer can also be understood to be no.
UP BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said the BJP would move forward on the Gyanvapi issue only based on the law. This was the BJP’s line in the Ayodhya case and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the same before the Supreme Court verdict when demands were made for a law on Ramtanpur.
When asked about Yogi Adityanath’s statement, Bhupendra Singh Chowdhury said, “I don’t know in what context Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made this statement but the entire country and everyone knows what he thinks about the practice of our places of worship.”
From the BJP’s standpoint, the issue seems to be more seasonal. This is also because Yogi Adityanath has a special focus on two seats – Milkypur and Karhal. Milkypur is the seat where Ayodhya MP Avadhesh Prasad is the MLA, while the Karhal seat is vacant due to Akhilesh Yadav becoming the Kannauj MLA.
Yogi Adityanath took over the Milkipur seat in Ayodhya just as Amit Shah took up a tough task. While Yogi Adityanath appointed a team of three ministers for each by-election seat, Milkipur got four ministers – Yogi Adityanath might be seeing a solution for Gyanvapi to defeat Ayodhya.
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