Maha Kumbh: Yogi says those who don’t believe in 'Sanatan traditions' should stay away, calls Waqf Board ‘land mafia’ Board

Lucknow: Amid the ongoing controversy regarding demand for banning the entry of the Muslims in the forthcoming ‘Mahakumbh’ at Prayagraj, beginning from January 13, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that those, who did not believe in the ‘Sanatan’ traditions should not come to the event.

Adityanath also referred to the claim that the land on which the Kumbh was being held was Waqf land and said that such claims would only make one say that it (Waqf Board) was in fact a ‘land mafia’ Board.

‘’Anyone who has respect for India and Sanatan traditions can come to Kumbh....people with bad mentality should not go there....they may face problems,’’ Adityanath said in an interview with a private TV channel in Prayagraj.

He said that those, considered them Indian and who had converted to other faiths under some pressure but still felt proud of their traditions and used the ‘gotras’ with their names and took part in the Hindu festivals were welcome at the Mahakumbh.

‘’If such people come to Kumbh to take holy dip at Sangam (the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Sarswati rivers), there is no problem,’’ Adityanath said.

‘’If someone starts saying that this (the place where Kumbh is being held) is our land and that we will take it back then I think they may face denting-painting (problems),’’ he remarked in reply to a question.

He also said that his much publicised slogan ‘batenge to katenge’ (Hindus will be slaughtered if they are divided) was not an attempt to ‘polarise’ but a ‘lesson’ from history.

Adityanath also said that every disputed structure should not be called a mosque. ‘’The day we stop terming every disputed structure a mosque then the people will also stop going there...it is also against the tenets of Islam to have a mosque like structure erected hurting the sentiments of others,’’ he added.