Somenath Pandey | HENB | New Delhi | Feb 11, 2024:: Weeks after a Varanasi court allowed Hindu devotees to pray in the southern cellar ( Vyasji ka Tekhana) of the Gyanvapi mosque, Trinamool Congress leader and minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury asked the Hindu worshippers to vacate the mosque premises immediately.  Chowdhury  is now a minster of Mass Education Extension and Library Services in West Bengal.

He also warned Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that if he comes to West Bengal, he will not be allowed to go out.

he TMC leader was speaking at a Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind rally in Kolkata demanding a ban on the ‘puja’ in the Gyanvapi mosque. Siddiqullah Chowdhury, a Trinamool Congress leader who is also a Jamiat- Ulema chief fanctionary in Wesr Bengal . He is also a senior member of Muslim Personal Law Board. 

“If he (Yogi Adityanath) sits somewhere when in Bengal, he will not be allowed to go out. The Hindu worshippers have forcefully started offering prayers at Gyanvapi mosque. I would tell them to vacate the premises immediately,” the TMC leader said.

“These people (Hindu worshippers) have forcefully started worshipping there. Vacate the Gyanvapi mosque immediately,” Siddiqullah  said.

The TMC leader further said that “we do not go to any temple to pray”.

“So why are they coming to our mosques? A mosque is a mosque. If someone wants to convert the mosque into a temple, then we will not sit quiet. This will not happen.

“That (Gyanvapi) mosque has been there for more than 800 years. How will they demolish it?” he queried.

Hitting out at Chowdhury’s comments, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said under the leadership of TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal has “become the protector of a particular community”.

“For the Rohingya, they have a red carpet… Yogi Adityanath is a Sanatani son. A Minister of the Mamata Banerjee-led government threatening Yogi Adityanath is not acceptable to the country. They do not have the courage to stop Yogi from going to Bengal,” Giriraj Singh said.

On January 31, Varanasi district court  passed a ruling that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.

Shailendra Kumar Pathak, maternal grandson of Somnath Vyas filed a petition to the court for restoring the rights of worship as his grand-father used to perform prayers there till 1993 when the cellar was closed by the authorities whimsically.  Actually,  under the direction of then CM Mulayan Singh Yadav the puja of Vyas Tekhana was stopped abruptly without any reasoning.

Critics say that WB CM Mamata Banerjee has deputed Siddiqullah Chowdhury to be vocal against Modi and Yogi as a mouthpiece of TMC to revamp its Muslim vote Bank before the  Parliamentary Election in the middle of this year.

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__ With Inputs from Times Now Navbharat.