Hans News Service Ayodhya/Basti

UttarPradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday accused the Samajwadi Party and the Congress of disrespecting Hindu faith, alleging they had earlier allowed namaz to be offered at the Hanumangarhi temple in Ayodhya and demanded that they apologise for the “sin”. Addressing a public meeting in Bikapur in Ayodhya after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of 217 development projects worth over Rs 432 crore, Adityanath said those who now claim to speak for faith had committed a “sin” by allowing namaz to be offered on the steps of Hanumangarhi.

“They had namaz offered at Hanumangarhi. Can anyone imagine Hanuman Chalisa being recited inside Jama Masjid? Can any government or the Samajwadi Party or the Congress ever make that happen? If not, then why was this sin committed at Hanumangarhi? Who was responsible for it?” he said.

The chief minister was apparently referring to an incident from November 2003 when an attempt was made to offer namaz outside the Hanumangarhi, a temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman, but permission was not granted by the local police. When asked about the namaz incident, former UP Director General of Police and BJP MP Brij Lal on Friday told PTI, “This is correct.

This incident dates back to November 2003 during the month of Ramzan.” “Back then, the BSP government led by Mayawati had exited,” Brijlal recalled suggesting that the entire ‘namaz plan’ was made during then Mulayam Singh Yadav government allegedly at the behest of “an officer with Samajwadi Party-Leftist leanings”. “The plan was to hold roza iftaar after namaz. But this couldn’t succeed as the then SSP Faizabad (now Ayodhya) Rajeev Sabharwal firmly said he won’t allow this,” Brijlal recalled. Following the opposition, namaz was finally offered at the Hanumangarhi mahant’s residence adjacent to the temple.

“The original plan was to offer namaz right outside Hanumangarhi but police didn’t allow it,” Brij Lal stated.