'Babarnama Mentions Sambhal's Harihar Temple Was Destroyed': Yogi Adityanath Questions Lack Of Reciprocity From Muslims

Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath cited Babarnama in the legislative assembly on Monday (16 December) to claim that a structure, known as Jama Masjid in Sambhal today, was constructed after destroying Harihar temple.

The remarks come after violence erupted in the UP district when a court-ordered survey team went to the Sambhal mosque to find evidence of a temple there, based on the petition of renowned lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain.

Adityanath said that since the leader of the opposition, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mata Prasad Pandey is a Brahmin, he must believe in our Puranas which say that Vishnu's tenth incarnation will take birth in this Sambhal.

"It was just a survey. The police and district administration were just following court orders. During the first two days of the survey, everything was peaceful. The situation became tense after inflammatory statements were made during and after Friday namaz," he added.

The UP CM asserted that the report of the judicial commission on the Sambhal violence would clarify everything. He also questioned the Muslim community over the non-reciprocity of tolerance shown by Hindus.

"If a Muslim procession can peacefully pass through a Hindu mohalla, then why can't a Hindu procession pass through a Muslim mohalla? This is the root of all troubles. In Sambhal, there were disputes between Shias and Sunnis in 1976," he pointed out.

Adityanath asserted that Lucknow's Shia-Sunni dispute came to an end under the BJP rule while alleging that SP used to divide Muslim communities as well. "That's why we said, Hum na batenge, na katenge (We will not get divided)," he added.

The UP CM also highlighted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won seven of nine seats in the assembly bypolls showing "Sapachat", a changed version of Hindi word safachat to suggest a clean sweep against SP.