E-Paper
Places of Worship Act against spirit of Constitution: BJP MP Manoj Tiwari
Tiwari was speaking at the unveiling ceremony of the ancient model of the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi on Sunday
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Manoj Tiwari on Sunday said he is personally in favour of abolishing the Places of Worship Act 1991, adding that it is against the “basic spirit” of the Constitution and does not apply to the Gyanvapi case.
The Places of Worship Act 1991 states that the religious character of a place of worship existing as on 15 August 1947 shall continue to be the same as it existed on that day.
Tiwari, who represents Northeast Delhi constituency in the Lok Sabha, was speaking at the unveiling ceremony of the ancient model of the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, organised by Shri Adi Mahadev Kashi Dharmalay Mukti Nyas in Varanasi.
“Some people said in Parliament that since Ram Mandir is being built, no more of such issues (such as Gyanvapi) should be raised, which is why they referred to the Places of Worship Act. This is the Modi government...if required, one more amendment will be made to the Constitution. The Modi government scrapped around 2,200 laws which were not good for the people,” Tiwari said.
He further said, “Our country has a long history where invaders came, destroyed temples, got those converted. Who were the invaders? The invaders were foreigners, the invaders were Mughals. They destroyed the temples... Such laws came into force under the earlier Congress governments, according to which you cannot file a case again on the issue of destroyed temples. This is against the basic spirit of the Constitution, as per which if there is any dispute, there will be justice and review.”
“The Gyanvapi case dates back long before the Places of Worship Act, 1991 came into effect. Therefore, it has nothing to do with it and doesn’t apply to the case. I am personally in favour of abolition of this Act,” he added.
