By Express News Service
The BJP on Tuesday demanded an apology from CM Nitish Kumar over a Muslim minister entering the Vishnupad temple in Gaya along with him on Monday.
Former deputy CM and BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi said, “Nitish has insulted the religion in a well-planned manner because he knows non-Hindus are not allowed inside the temple.”
Nitish visited the sanctum of Vishnupad temple along with Mohammad Israil Mansuri, prompting the temple management committee to the latter’s dismissal from the cabinet.
Temple management committee president Shambhu Lal Vitthal Vitthal “apologised” to Lord Vishnu and “purified” the temple with Ganga Jal.
The temple entrance has a sign mentioning that non-Hindus cannot enter the shrine. Bihar JD-U chief Umesh Kushwaha said, “The BJP has no other issue. Even the Constitution permits a person to visit a religious place if he has faith in that religion.”
Mansuri, a Pasmanda Muslim who holds Information Technology portfolio, had later told reporters “I feel blessed to have got the opportunity for a darshan of the temple with the honourable chief minister”.
As per comvention, ministers in Bihar are given “prabhaar” (charge) of districts where they also head the respective program coordination committee.
Mansuri has been given the charge of Gaya.
However, Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal reacted furiously.
“We demand a public apology from the chief minister. Can he think of setting his foot inside Mecca? Why must Hindus always adjust their religious sensibilities in the name of tolerance?” he asked.
“If the chief minister refuses to apologize, he should brace for protests from BJP workers everywhere, including the state assembly,” said Jaiswal whose party is sore over loss of power in the state.
When pointed out that priests of the temple were reluctant to voice their anguish, the BJP leader said “A common man cannot do much when the chief minister is intent on a deliberate insult to Hindu sensibilities”.
Working president and secretary of the trust managing the temple, Shambhu Lal Vitthal and Gajadhar Lal Pathak respectively, said they were not aware of Mansuri’s entry but it should have been “avoided” since a notice board outside the premises clearly stated that “only those believing in Sanatana Dharma” were allowed.
When Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was asked to comment on the controversy, he said “Nobody pays attention to BJP which stands for badka jhuttha (big liar) party”.
State cabinet minister Ashok Choudhary, who is also a senior leader of Kumar’s JD(U), said “It is the BJP’s mindset that Hindus and Muslims must not go to each other’s places of worship.
We visit temples and mazaars with the same spirit”.
When pointed out that entry of non-Hindus is prohibited inside the Vishnupad temple, Choudhary said “Mansuri ji must not have been aware of such a convention. But it is not something over which a fuss should be made”.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Giriraj Singh Tuesday blamed the volte-face of Nitish Kumar on his (Kumar’s) “discomfort” over BJP flagging “sleeper cells” active in the state and opposing imposition of ‘Sharia’ in some pockets.
Singh, who represents Begusarai in the Lok Sabha, was talking to reporters in Siwan district on the sidelines of a party function.
“The busting of Popular Front of India’s Phulwari Sharif module (in July) has proved that Bihar has become infested with sleeper cells”, he claimed.
Two persons, including a retired Jharkhand Police officer were arrested on July 13 from Phulwari Sharif area of Bihar’s capital Patna, while another person was arrested three days later from Lucknow by Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad in connection with the case.
The union minister said while schools uniformly have weekly holidays on Sunday, in Bihar many institutions are closed on Fridays “in a flagrant attempt at enforcing Sharia law,” he alleged.
“BJP was raising these issues in the national interest. But this made Nitish Kumar uncomfortable (asahaj)”, said Singh, a known detractor of the JD(U) leader.
“His (Kumar’s) discomfort may have cost us (BJP) power in the state. But now that we are in the opposition, we will raise the issue of national security and integrity with even greater force”, said the BJP leader.
He also accused the RJD-JD(U) combine of having shown a bias in favour of Urdu medium schools.
“Tejashwi Yadav had spoken of filling up vacant posts to meet the promise of 10 lakh jobs. I have learnt that the new cabinet has instead initiated the process of recruiting Urdu teachers. There seems little concern for general schools and also those where the medium of instruction is Sanskrit”, the Union Minister alleged.
(With PTI Inputs)
The BJP on Tuesday demanded an apology from CM Nitish Kumar over a Muslim minister entering the Vishnupad temple in Gaya along with him on Monday.
Former deputy CM and BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi said, “Nitish has insulted the religion in a well-planned manner because he knows non-Hindus are not allowed inside the temple.”
Nitish visited the sanctum of Vishnupad temple along with Mohammad Israil Mansuri, prompting the temple management committee to the latter’s dismissal from the cabinet.
Temple management committee president Shambhu Lal Vitthal Vitthal “apologised” to Lord Vishnu and “purified” the temple with Ganga Jal.
The temple entrance has a sign mentioning that non-Hindus cannot enter the shrine. Bihar JD-U chief Umesh Kushwaha said, “The BJP has no other issue. Even the Constitution permits a person to visit a religious place if he has faith in that religion.”
Mansuri, a Pasmanda Muslim who holds Information Technology portfolio, had later told reporters “I feel blessed to have got the opportunity for a darshan of the temple with the honourable chief minister”.
As per comvention, ministers in Bihar are given “prabhaar” (charge) of districts where they also head the respective program coordination committee.
Mansuri has been given the charge of Gaya.
However, Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal reacted furiously.
“We demand a public apology from the chief minister. Can he think of setting his foot inside Mecca? Why must Hindus always adjust their religious sensibilities in the name of tolerance?” he asked.
“If the chief minister refuses to apologize, he should brace for protests from BJP workers everywhere, including the state assembly,” said Jaiswal whose party is sore over loss of power in the state.
When pointed out that priests of the temple were reluctant to voice their anguish, the BJP leader said “A common man cannot do much when the chief minister is intent on a deliberate insult to Hindu sensibilities”.
Working president and secretary of the trust managing the temple, Shambhu Lal Vitthal and Gajadhar Lal Pathak respectively, said they were not aware of Mansuri’s entry but it should have been “avoided” since a notice board outside the premises clearly stated that “only those believing in Sanatana Dharma” were allowed.
When Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was asked to comment on the controversy, he said “Nobody pays attention to BJP which stands for badka jhuttha (big liar) party”.
State cabinet minister Ashok Choudhary, who is also a senior leader of Kumar’s JD(U), said “It is the BJP’s mindset that Hindus and Muslims must not go to each other’s places of worship.
We visit temples and mazaars with the same spirit”.
When pointed out that entry of non-Hindus is prohibited inside the Vishnupad temple, Choudhary said “Mansuri ji must not have been aware of such a convention. But it is not something over which a fuss should be made”.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Giriraj Singh Tuesday blamed the volte-face of Nitish Kumar on his (Kumar’s) “discomfort” over BJP flagging “sleeper cells” active in the state and opposing imposition of ‘Sharia’ in some pockets.
Singh, who represents Begusarai in the Lok Sabha, was talking to reporters in Siwan district on the sidelines of a party function.
“The busting of Popular Front of India’s Phulwari Sharif module (in July) has proved that Bihar has become infested with sleeper cells”, he claimed.
Two persons, including a retired Jharkhand Police officer were arrested on July 13 from Phulwari Sharif area of Bihar’s capital Patna, while another person was arrested three days later from Lucknow by Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad in connection with the case.
The union minister said while schools uniformly have weekly holidays on Sunday, in Bihar many institutions are closed on Fridays “in a flagrant attempt at enforcing Sharia law,” he alleged.
“BJP was raising these issues in the national interest. But this made Nitish Kumar uncomfortable (asahaj)”, said Singh, a known detractor of the JD(U) leader.
“His (Kumar’s) discomfort may have cost us (BJP) power in the state. But now that we are in the opposition, we will raise the issue of national security and integrity with even greater force”, said the BJP leader.
He also accused the RJD-JD(U) combine of having shown a bias in favour of Urdu medium schools.
“Tejashwi Yadav had spoken of filling up vacant posts to meet the promise of 10 lakh jobs. I have learnt that the new cabinet has instead initiated the process of recruiting Urdu teachers. There seems little concern for general schools and also those where the medium of instruction is Sanskrit”, the Union Minister alleged.
(With PTI Inputs)
