AGRA: The Hindu Mahasabha in Aligarh released a controversial Hindu New Year calendar on Sunday in which seven mosques the holy Muslim site of Makkah and monuments from the Mughal era, including the Taj Mahal have been referred to as “Hindu temples”.
Acooring to Times of India reports, Makkah has been called the “Macceshwar Mahadev temple” while Taj Mahal has been referred to as “Tejo Mahalaya temple”.
Similarly, Madhya Pradesh’s Kamal Maula Mosque has been referred to as “bhojshala” and Kashi’s Gyanvyapi mosque has been called the “Vishwanath temple”, Jaunpur’s Atala mosque “Atla devi temple”, Qutab Minar “Vishnu Stambh” and the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya as “Ram Janam Bhoomi”.
Speaking to The Times of India, Hindu Mahasabha national secretary Pooja Shakun Pandey said, “We have organised ‘hawan’ rituals on the auspicious New year of the Hindu calendar and resolved to make this country a Hindu Rashtra.”
Hindu Mahasabha national secretary also hoped that the government will accept their demand and declare India a Hindu nation. She accused the Muslims of plundering Hindu religious heritage sites into mosques and pledged to restore their original names.
“They should now have to give these back to Hindus and we will restore their original names, as mentioned in the new calendar,” she added.
However, the move has not gone down too well with the Muslims.
Imam-e-Eidgah Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahli, who belongs to All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), has termed the claims as baseless. He said that dubbing the holy site of Makkah a Hindu temple is against the spirit of secularism.
“These people are unnecessary spoiling the communal atmosphere by making such claims and action should be taken against them for spreading hatred,” he said.
Zamirullaha Khan, the former MLA from Aligarh, said, “There is no difference between Pakistan’s Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and these people who just want to harm the country.” He said that this was an attempt to create fissure between the two communities.