BJP, RSS bringing 'era of hatred like 1990s': Owaisi on survey of Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi

Amid the row over the survey of Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are trying to rekindle the era of hatred as the one in the 1990s.

Hyderabad: Amid the row over the survey of Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are trying to rekindle the era of hatred as the one in the 1990s.

Addressing a gathering in Hyderabad, Owaisi said, "Government of India and Uttar Pradesh government should have told the court that Parliament passed The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. It stated that no religious place, as it existed on August 15, 1947, will be disturbed. They should have told Court. The central government knows that when the Babri Masjid Civil Title judgment came, it linked the 1991 Act to the basic structure of the Constitution. It was the constitutional duty of the government to tell the court that what they were doing is wrong."

"But since they do politics of hatred, they stayed silent. BJP should say if they accept the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. It is BJP and Sangh that are focussing on this matter. They are trying to rekindle the era of hatred as the one in the 1990s," he added. 

Earlier, the AIMIM chief criticized the local court order and said the order to survey Gyanvapi Masjid at Varanasi is a violation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. 

"This order to survey Kashi`s Gyanvapi Masjid is an open violation of the 1991 Places of Worship Act, which prohibits conversion of religious places. SC in Ayodhya judgment had said the Act protects `secular features of Indian polity which is 1 of basic features of Constitution," he had said.