Plaint filed against Nitish Kumar's minister Mohammad Israil Mansuri for visiting Gaya temple: 'It has hurt sentiments of Hindus'

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had on Monday offered prayers at the famed Vishnupad temple in Gaya where he was accompanied by his new cabinet colleague Mohammad Israil Mansuri.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar worships at Vishnupad Temple in Gaya on August 22. IT minister Israel Mansuri can be seen in grey in the back (ANI Photo)

New Delhi: A complaint petition was filed on Wednesday (August 24, 2022) in a Bihar court against Nitish Kumar's minister Mohammad Israil Mansuri for visiting the Vishnupad temple in Gaya. Muzaffarpur-based social activist Chandra Kishore Parashar filed the complaint seeking an FIR be registered against Mansuri for "hurting religious sentiments of Hindus".

"My client, in his complaint, said that the minister, being a Muslim, should not have visited the Vishnupad temple as only those who follow the Sanatana Dharma are allowed to visit the temple," Ravindra Kumar Singh, lawyer of Parashar, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

"My client sought an FIR be registered against the minister for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. The court will hear the matter on September 2," Singh added.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had on Monday offered prayers at the famed Vishnupad temple in Gaya where he was accompanied by Mansuri.

Mansuri, an RJD leader and a Pasmanda Muslim who holds the Information Technology portfolio, had said, "I feel blessed to have got the opportunity for a darshan of the temple with the honourable chief minister."

BJP attacks Nitish Kumar over Muslim minister's visit to Vishnupad temple

BJP, Nitish Kumar's former ally, attacked Bihar CM and demanded a public apology from him over Mohammad Israil Mansuri's visit to the Vishnupad temple.

"We demand a public apology from the chief minister. Can he think of setting his foot inside Mecca? Why must Hindus always adjust their religious sensibilities in the name of tolerance?" Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal said.

"If the chief minister refuses to apologize, he should brace for protests from BJP workers everywhere, including the state assembly," Jaiswal added.

Other BJP leaders had also fulminated, citing a notice board on the premises that says "only followers of Sanatana Dharma" will be allowed.

Nitish Kumar blames controversy around Mansuri's temple visit on BJP

Earlier on Wednesday, Nitish Kumar blamed the controversy around his new cabinet colleague Mansuri visiting the temple on the "divisive" politics of the BJP.

"They (BJP) have been wanting to divide the society by raising non-issues. What is their grouse? Have their ministers not visited temples along with me?" asked the JD(U) supremo.

He also reminded the former ally that "Muslims too voted for them when they were with me".

(With agency inputs)