Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, had written in 1937 that Mughals had destroyed many temples and had built mosques over them. In the same article, he wrote that Muslims should generously handover all such properties to Hindus.
He further wrote that mosques built atop destroyed temples were signs of slavery.
The article of Mahatma Gandhi was published in Navjeevan Patrika on July 27, 1937.
In the said article, Gandhi wrote “It is a very heinous sin to damage any place of worship. During the Mughal period, due to religious fanaticism, the Mughal rulers occupied many religious places of Hindus. Many of these were looted and destroyed and many were converted into mosques. Although both temples and mosques are holy places of worship of God and there is no difference between the two, the worship tradition of both Hindus and Muslims is different.”
He further added “From a religious point of view, a Muslim can never tolerate that a Hindu loots the mosque where he has been praying. Similarly, a Hindu will never tolerate that his temple, where he has been worshipping Ram, Krishna, Vishnu and other gods, be demolished. Where such incidents have happened, these are signs of slavery. Both Hindus and Muslims should decide between themselves about such places where disputes take place. Those places of worship of Muslims which are in the possession of Hindus, Hindus should generously give them to Muslims. Similarly, the religious places of Hindus which are in possession of Muslims should be happily handed over to Hindus. This will remove mutual discrimination and unity among Hindus and Muslims will increase, which will prove to be a blessing for a country like India.”
A clipping of Gandhi’s article has gone viral on different social media platforms.
Historians believe that more than 40000 temples were destroyed by the invaders. But Muslims are not ready to handover any of those places to Hindus.
Currently, the Gyanvapi disputed site case is being heard in the Varanasi court. On the orders of the court, videographic inspection of the disputed site was completed and the video will be put in public domain on Monday (May 30). The Muslim side has pleaded the court not to put the video in public domain.
A case was filed by Delhi-based Rakhi Singh, Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak on April 18 last year demanding permission for daily worship of Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesh, Lord Hanuman and Nandi located on the outer wall of the disputed Gyanvapi mosque. The plea has also requested for an order restraining the opponents from causing any damage to the statues.
