Vinay Katiyar stokes passions ahead of Ayodhya verdict - Hindustan Times
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Vinay Katiyar stokes passions ahead of Ayodhya verdict

Nov 04, 2019 11:38 PM IST

LUCKNOW: Despite the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh appealing for peace ahead of the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict, firebrand BJP leader Vinay Katiyar stepped up the rhetoric on Monday saying after Ayodhya, the Hindus would head to reclaim Mathura and Kashi too.

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“Like millions of Hindus across the globe, we too are hoping for a favourable verdict. If it comes in favour, it would merely be a satisfying end of a struggle in which lakhs of people laid down their lives. But by no means would it be the end as we would then look towards Kashi and Mathura,” Katiyar, also known as ‘Bajrangi’ for having set up the Bajrang Dal, told HT on phone from Delhi.

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Katiyar reminded that ‘Dharm Sthan Mukti Manch’ was set up in 1984 with the avowed objective of reclaiming Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura.

“If the Ayodhya verdict is in favour, then we would surely hold meetings of the Manch to discuss the planning for Kashi and Mathura,” Katiyar said.

RSS, VHP and BJP believe that like Ayodhya where Mughal emperor Babur felled a temple to construct a mosque, in Varanasi Aurangzeb got the Gyanvapi mosque built by demolishing portion of the Kashi Vishvanath temple in 1669. Also on the saffron radar is the Shahi Idgah that shares space with Krishna birthplace in Mathura.

A product of the Ayodhya temple movement, Katiyar, who wasn’t nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP this time and also saw his security watered down, was present in Ayodhya during the Babri mosque demolition on December 6, 1992.

He is among those named as accused in the Babri demolition case along with other BJP stalwarts like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh.

“I would be in Ayodhya again when the apex court pronounces its verdict,” Katiyar said.

“It was decided in a meeting of Dharm Sthan Mukti Manch in 1984 that Ayodhya would be first on agenda because here, unlike in Kashi or Mathura, the entire temple was demolished for a mosque. In Kashi and Mathura the temples stood then as they do today,” he said.

Asked if the Ayodhya verdict went against the Hindus, Katiyar said, “Nearly 3.5 lakh people sacrificed their lives for the temple cause. There is no looking back on temple commitment of ours. We would again offer sacrifice for the lord.”

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