Why is BJP shy about Places of Worship Act, asks Owaisi

Hyderabad: AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday asked the BJP why it is shy about the Places of Worship Act.

“It is still the law of the land. Will BJP defend its constitutionality in court or not?,” he asked in a post on ‘X’.

Places of Worship Act 1991 is aimed to prohibit 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.

The Hyderabad MP posed the question in response to Amit Malvya’s post accusing him of communalising the consecration of Ram Mandir.

“Asaduddin Owaisi is doing what he does best, communalising the consecration of Ram Mandir. In 2020, two Mosques in Hyderabad, Masjid-e-Mohammadi and Masjid-e-Hashmi were demolished to build the Secretariat but Owaisi, who is Member of Parliament from the city, didn’t utter a word,” wrote Malvya.

Owaisi responded to this saying the demolished mosques were reconstructed. “The masjids were illegally demolished but reconstructed. Today, namaz is offered in them. Everyone protested the demolition, including AIMIM. The CM himself participated in the inauguration of the reopened mosques,” the AIMIM chief stated.

“This is not the case with Babri Masjid, which was first desecrated in December 1949, converted to a full-fledged temple in 1986 and demolished in December 1992. Isn’t this what you want to do with Kashi and Mathura as well? Yes, there is a Supreme Court judgement. The Court is supreme but not infallible,” Owaisi added.