Changing names of places associated with particular religion will only create hatred, Mayawati slams BJP

`The manner in which people`s religious sentiments are being incited, as part of a conspiracy in the guise of Gyanvapi, Mathura, Taj Mahal, and other places, will not strengthen the country but will only weaken it,` the BSP chief said.

New Delhi: Amid ongoing developments and court hearings related to long-standing disputes regarding the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Wednesday (May 18, 2022) hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly targeting religious places to divert people's attention from issues like poverty, unemployment and inflation. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said that changing the names of the places associated with a particular religion will only create hatred and cautioned that it will weaken the country. 

"In order to divert people's attention from issues like rising poverty, unemployment and skyrocketing inflation in the country, BJP and its associate organisations are especially targeting religious places and this is not hidden from anyone," Mayawati was quoted as saying by the PTI news agency.

"This can spoil the situation anytime. Years after Independence, the manner in which people's religious sentiments are being incited, as part of a conspiracy in the guise of Gyanvapi, Mathura, Taj Mahal, and other places, will not strengthen the country but will only weaken it. The BJP needs to pay attention to this," she added.

Mayawati also alleged that the names of places associated with a particular religion are being changed one after another.

"The names of places associated with a particular religion are being changed one by one. This will not lead to peace, harmony or brotherhood, but would only create mutual hatred in the country. Such things are of concern and the people of the country need to remain alert as this will neither benefit the country nor common people," she said.

"This is the advice of the BSP in the interest of the people and the country," the BSP supremo stated. 

Her comments, notably, came in the wake of the ongoing court hearings related to the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, Krishna Janmasthan in Mathura as well as a recent petition moved in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court to open 22 closed rooms in the Taj Mahal to ascertain the presence of Hindu idols.

(With agency inputs)