Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that it was not a bad thing to "reclaim heritage". He also slammed claims that the place where the Maha Kumbh Mela was being held belonged to the waqf board and said that every inch of land will be reclaimed.
"Reclaiming heritage is not a bad thing. Sanatan proof is now visible in Sambhal. Disputed structures shouldn't be called mosques. India won't be run on the Muslim League mentality," Adityanath said at Aaj Tak's Dharma Sansad event.
Yogi Adityanath's remarks come after a row was sparked by Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi's claims just days ahead of the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj. He had claimed that the religious event was being held on Waqf land, to which Union Minister Giriraj Singh replied that the Kumbh has been happening even before the birth of Prophet Muhammad.
The UP CM's remarks also come days after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat asked people to avoid raking temple-mosque disputes, and that such "extreme" actions were "not acceptable".
Speaking on the Sambhal violence over a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid which claimed five lives, Yogi Adityanath said that even the Puranas mention Sambhal as the birthplace of the Lord Vishnu's tenth incarnation Kalki. "A Harihar temple was demolished in Sambhal in 1596 and a structure was built. It is even mentioned in Ain-i-Akbari," he said.
'Will Reclaim Every Inch Of Land Taken'
Yogi Adityanath also lashed out at the Waqf board over the cleric's recent claim about the Kumbh land and emphasised that the state government would reclaim evert inch of land that has been taken under the pretext of Waqf.
"We will reclaim every inch of land that has been taken under the pretext of Waqf and it will be used to build housing, educational institutions and hospitals for the poor," he asserted.
"The Kumbh has been a symbol of India's heritage for thousands of years and has always taken place here. It is not the Waqf Board but a board of land mafias," he added, taking a strong stance on the Waqf board.
Yogi's Swipe At Samajwadi Party Over Polluted Ganga River In 2013
He further took a jibe at the Samajwadi Party over the cleanliness of Ganga, citing an instance from the Kumbh in 2013, when PM of Mauritius did not take a dip in the holy river after seeing the filth and pollution in it. The Samajwadi Party-led government was in power in 2013, headed by Akhilesh Yadav.
"In 2013, when the Prime Minister of Mauritius came to India to take a holy dip in the Ganga, he went back after seeing pollution, filth, and mismanagement during the Kumbh," Adityanath said.
He said that the Ganga has become clean now after the double-engine government came into power. "When the Mauritian PM visited Varanasi in 2019, they visited Prayagraj where Kumbh was going on. He, along with his family, took a holy dip at the Sangam after seeing the change that had happened in six years."