Hanumangarhi namaz row: Saints committee secretary slams critics, shares what happened on ‘black day’
Ayodhya: Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti General Secretary Swami Jitendranand Saraswati waded into the Hanumangarhi namaz row on Sunday, slamming remarks made by former MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh and Swami Avimukteshwaranand and also giving insights on what happened on that ‘black day’ in Ayodhya.
After UP CM Yogi Adityanath claimed that namaz was offered on the steps of Hanumangarhi in Ayodhya, a political storm intensified in the state with Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati and former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh rejecting his assertions and demanding that the Chief Minister substantiate his remarks by giving ‘evidence’.
Swami Jitendranand Saraswati outrightly dismissed claims that namaz was never offered at the Hanumangarhi steps and suggested that this happened not once but ‘twice’, and that it was only after the Naga Sadhus erupted in protest and stood up in arms that the organizers pulled back on the planned prayers in 2005.
He said that the Naga sadhus of Hanuman Garhi observed a 14-day fast and staged a sit-in protest to stop the second such insulting attempt in 2005.
Responding to ex-MP Brijbhushan Singh and Avimukteshwaranand’s remarks that namaz was not performed at Hanuman Garhi, he said that such a massive lie has never been told.
“During Mulayam Singh Yadav’s tenure as Chief Minister, specifically on the ‘black day’ of November 20, 2003, a Roza Iftar party and Namaz were held within the residential complex of Mahant Gyan Das, located inside the 52-bigha Hanuman Garhi premises,” he recalled.
He also claimed that it could have far-reaching consequences and had it not been opposed, the darshan of Lord Hanuman might have been suspended.
He said that five saints, including Mahant Dharma Das, Gauri Shankar Das, Rambaran Das, and two others, filed a petition regarding this in the then Faizabad District Court.
Regarding the construction of the Hanuman Garhi temple, he rejected the claims that Nawab Shuja-ud-Daulah had built it. He stated that when Maharaja Vikramaditya constructed the temple at the birthplace of Shri Ram, a temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman was simultaneously built at Hanuman Garhi.
“There are historical facts and adequate evidence to corroborate this,” he added.
Jitendranand Saraswati further said that records from the district courts of the then-Faizabad (now Ayodhya) and videos from various channels prove that Namaz was offered there in 2003 and that an attempt was made to conduct prayers there in 2005.
“For 14 days, the Naga sadhus of Hanuman Garhi observed a fast and staged a sit-in protest to protect their faith. At that time, Yogi Adityanath, the then MP from Gorakhpur, visited the Hanuman Garhi temple to extend his support to the protest,” he remarked.
He also asserted that these are historical facts and they cannot be denied.