Ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) once again raised the issue of Mathura and Varanasi.
“For Hindus, that issue of Mathura and Varanasi is not over. We, as Hindus, feel that injustice was done to our places of great religious importance,” Karnataka BJP MLA Arvind Bellad said
“That should be corrected and justice needs to be done with Mathura and Varanasi,” he added.
Last week, BJP MP Ravindra Kushwaha said that when the Narendra Modi government could repeal the farm laws keeping in mind the protests by farmers, it can also withdraw the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 to pave way for the construction of a grand temple at Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura.
The Act prohibits conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.
“Our origin is from this (Mathura) place. This is a matter of country’s pride,” the MP from Ballia told reporters on Sunday.
“Ayodhya has been decided, work is on in Kashi Vishwanath temple and now it’s the turn of Mathura,” he added.
The supposed temple site in Mathura, which is a subject of multiple lawsuits, is located inside an Aurangzeb-era mosque and shares its premises with a prominent temple.
Earlier, right-wing groups had given a call that they will place a Krishna idol inside the Shahi Idgah Masjid, which shares its boundary with the temple, on December 6.