Pawar demands trust for Ayodhya mosque too

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that just as the Centre had set up a trust to oversee the construction of Ram temple in

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that just as the Centre had set up a trust to oversee the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, a similar trust should also be formed for building a mosque there.

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The UP government has allotted five acres of land in Ayodhya district’s Dhannipur village for the mosque, 25 kilometres from the site where the temple is to come up.

“The BJP is dividing people by engaging in communal politics. Just as you have set up a trust for temple construction, why can’t a similar trust be set up for the mosque too?” he asked while addressing a meeting of the party’s state level volunteers in Lucknow on Wednesday.

“Aap mandir bananey ke liye trust bana sakte hain, toh masjid, jispe hamla hua, jiski shahadat hui, uske liye trust kyon nahi bana sakte? Desh to sabka hai (You can build a trust for temple then why can’t you set up a trust for mosque which was demolished. The country belongs to everyone),” Pawar said.

KK Sharma, the state chief of the NCP, said Pawar was in support of temple.

“He made it clear that he has nothing against the temple but he said just as a trust has been set up for temple, funds could be provided for mosque construction too by setting up another trust,” Sharma said.

Pawar also criticised the UP government for not doing enough for farmers.

“The state budget has nothing for farmers and it isn’t sure if the monthly stipend government has announced for youth would reach them,” he said. He also recounted his stint as union agriculture minister and how he had tried to help the farmers and the poor.

Pawar said he had come to Lucknow to galvanise the party and added that BJP’s defeat in Delhi signalled that people across the country favoured change.