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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Saturday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the demolition of a mosque in Saharanpur, saying the move violates the Constitution and the Places of Worship Act, 1991.
Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "This is a blatant violation of the country's Constitution. We have the 'Places of Worship Act,' which ensures that no religious site existing prior to 1947whether a temple, mosque, gurudwara, or churchcan be tampered with. This mosque in Saharanpur had existed since 1911; yet, a bulldozer was sent to demolish it." Places of Worship Act, 1991 was enacted to freeze the status of religious places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, and prohibits the conversion of any place of worship and ensures the maintenance of their religious character. He said the government issued a unilateral order without involving the Waqf Board and "hastily" demolished the mosque. "Solely to vitiate the atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh, BJP wants to incite conflict between Hindus and Muslims in the state because they are facing a crushing defeat in the upcoming elections. There are only four months left for the elections, and this mosque was demolished specifically to stoke confrontation. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has stated that while attackers could destroy temples and idols, they could not erase people's faith. So, go and fight those who actually destroyed temples and idols. Who is stopping you? Just let the rest of us live in peace," he said. The remarks came after the Saharanpur administration demolished the mosque on Saturday morning in the presence of senior officials and a heavy police deployment. The structure had been declared illegal by the City Magistrates court on the grounds that it stood on government land. The appeal filed by the Mosque Committee was subsequently rejected, paving the way for the demolition. Raising questions over donations related to the Ayodhya Ram Temple, Sanjay Singh demanded a fair investigation into the allegations and sought action against those found guilty. He also raised the issue of OBC reservation in the recruitment of 69,000 teachers and alleged that justice had not been done with OBC candidates regarding reservation benefits. "If required, this issue will also be raised in Parliament," Singh said. (ANI)
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