Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be invited to inaugurate the public utility facilities coming up next to the mosque in Dhannipur village in Ayodhya. But there will be no ritual for laying the foundation stone of the religious structure itself, the Trust mandated to construct the mosque has said.
Mr. Adityanath would be invited as the head of Uttar Pradesh.
“On the five-acre land in Dhannipur village, which has been given for the construction of a mosque on the Supreme Court’s directive, a hospital, a library, a community kitchen and a research centre will also be built.
To a question on whether Adityanath will lay the foundation stone for the construction of the mosque, Hussain said according to the four schools of thought in Islam — Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi and Maliki — there is no provision for laying the foundation stone for a mosque.
Asked whether the mosque will be named as “Babri Masjid”, Hussain said, “There is no such thinking. The name is yet to be finalised.”
“Barring the Masjid-e-Nabwi (Madina in Saudi Arabia) and a few other mosques, the names of other mosques do not matter. In the eyes of Allah, the ‘sajda’ done at the mosques is important, everything else is meaningless,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party (SP) sought an apology from Adityanath on Friday over his remark that he would not attend the inauguration of the mosque to be built in Ayodhya, replacing the demolished Babri Masjid.
After the “bhoomi pujan” for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the chief minister had said on television that “as a yogi and as a Hindu”, he could not go for the inauguration of a mosque.
“If you ask me as a chief minister, I have no problem with any belief, religion or community. If you ask me as a yogi, I will definitely not go because as a Hindu, I have the right to follow my way of worship and act accordingly,” he had said.
“I am neither ‘vaadi’ nor ‘prativadi’ (neither petitioner nor respondent). That is why neither will I be invited, nor will I go. I know that I will not be getting any such invitation,” Adityanath had said.
“The day they invite me, the secularism of many will be in danger. That is why I want that their secularism should not be in danger and I continue to silently work to ensure that everyone benefits from government schemes without any discrimination,” he had said.
SP spokesperson Pawan Pandey criticised Adityanath over his remarks, saying he had violated the oath he took while assuming charge as the chief minister.
“He is the chief minister of the entire state and not only of the Hindu community. Whatever the population of Hindus and Muslims in the state, he is the chief minister of all. This language of the chief minister lacks dignity. He should seek an apology from people for this,” he said.