The Times of India
Hindu Mahasabha's calendar refers to Mecca as Macceshwar Mahadev temple, Taj as Tejo Mahalaya
Anuja Jaiswal | TNN | Updated: Mar 18, 2018, 21:49 IST
AGRA: The Hindu Mahasabha, Aligarh, on Sunday released a controversial Hindu New Year calendar in which seven mosques and monuments from the Mughal era, including the Taj Mahal, and the holy Muslim site of Mecca, have been referred to as "Hindu temples".
While Taj Mahal has been referred to as "Tejo Mahalaya temple", Mecca has been called the "Macceshwar Mahadev temple". Similarly, Madhya Pradesh's Kamal Maula Mosque has been referred to as "bhojshala" and Kashi's Gyanvyapi mosque has been called the “Vishwanath temple", Qutab Minar "Vishnu Stambh", Jaunpur's Atala mosque "Atla devi temple" and the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya as "Ram Janam Bhoomi".
"We have organised 'hawan' rituals on the auspicious New year of the Hindu calendar and resolved to make this country a Hindu Rashtra," said Hindu Mahasabha national secretary Pooja Shakun Pandey.
She said that she hoped that the government will accept their demand and declare India a Hindu nation.
She said that Muslims had plundered Hindu religious heritage sites and had turned them to mosques by changing their names accordingly.
"They should now have to give these back to Hindus and we will restore their original names, as mentioned in the new calendar," she added.
She said that all names mentioned in the calendar have been verified by historian BP Saxena, a retired professor from the history department of Varshney College, Aligarh.
Saxena claimed that facts can prove beyond doubt that these seven religious heritage sites belong to Hindus.
He said that if there is any controversy, excavations should be conducted, just like in the Ram temple case, and evidence will be there for all to see.
However, the move has not gone down well with Muslims.
Imam-e-Eidgah Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahli, who is also an executive committee member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), said that these claims are baseless. He said that dubbing the holy site of Mecca a Hindu temple is meant to hurt the sentiments of Muslims and is against the spirit of secularism.
"These people are unnecessary spoiling the communal atmosphere by making such claims and action should be taken against them for spreading hatred," he said.
Former MLA from Aligarh, Zamirullaha Khan said, "There is no difference between Pakistan’s Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and these people who just want to harm the country." He said that this was an attempt to create fissure between the two communities.
He alleged that this was being done on the direction of the government, as it believes in the policy of divide and rule.