Won't Attend Mosque Inauguration Even If Invited, Says UP CM Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made a controversial remark saying he would not attend the inauguration of the mosque to be built in Ayodhya, replacing the demolished Babri Masjid. After the bhoomi pujan for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, Adityanath had said on television that "as a yogi and as a Hindu" he couldn't go for the inauguration of a mosque. Reacting to the remark, the opposition SP said he should seek an apology from the people of the state.

When contacted, a UP Congress spokesperson, however, refused to comment on the chief minister's remarks over the mosque.

"If you ask me as a chief minister, I have no problem with any belief, religion or community. If you ask me as a yogi, I will definitely not go because as a Hindu I have the right to express my 'upasana vidhi' (way of worship) and act accordingly," Adityanath had said.

AFP

"I am neither 'vaadi or ¡°prativadi' (petitioner nor respondent). That is why neither will I be invited, nor will I go. I know, I won't be getting any such invitation,¡± he said. The day they invite me, secularism of many will be in danger. That's why I want that their secularism should not be in danger and I continue to silently work to ensure that everyone benefits from government scheme without any discrimination," he said.

Here's how people reacted towards the statement :

I don't think people, even those holding constitutional positions, should be asked to go against their religious beliefs.

https://t.co/VvwQFWFNUn

¡ª Harini Calamur (#StayHome) (@calamur) August 7, 2020

" Would a Hindu feel safe in Pakistan or Afghanistan if he was fighting for a temple?¡± As expected, Aditya Yoginath continues to lower the bar for India. We are now to be compared with 2 failed democratic states and are supposed to be proud of it. https://t.co/fohA5vdYpQ

¡ª Mohan Kumaramangalam ????? ???????????? (@MKumaramangalam) August 7, 2020

I don¡¯t discriminate as CM, but as Hindi speaking won¡¯t attend Tamil event-

I don¡¯t discriminate as CM, but as Rajput won¡¯t attend Dalit event-

All this are crazy ones ! The below one too ! https://t.co/LkFqKNCJLY

¡ª Manickam Tagore MP???????????? ?????? (@manickamtagore) August 7, 2020

Yogi Adityanath had attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the main guest.

Last November, the Supreme Court had settled the Ayodhya land dispute, allowing the construction of the temple at Ram Janmabhoomi by a trust. The apex court had also ordered the allocation of a five-acre plot of land elsewhere in Ayodhya for the construction of a mosque, in place of the Babri Masjid which was demolished by ¡®kar sevaks' in 1992. A trust has been formed by the Sunni Waqf Board for building this mosque.