Patna (Bihar) [India], January 6 : Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday said that some extremist Muslims in the country wanted to disrupt the environment.
"Some extremist Muslims want to disrupt the environment. The Kumbh has been organized for centuries before Islam was founded. When Islam did not exist before Kumbh, how could have Waqf existed before Kumbh...?" Singh said speaking to ANI.
Further, Singh said that neither Rahul Gandhi nor Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders were speaking anything regarding this.
"Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Lalu Yadav, and Mamata Banerjee, are not able to speak anything regarding this... It is an unfortunate situation and the people involved in vote bank politics have fabricated this situation..." he further added.
This comes after president of All India Muslim Jammat (AIMJ) Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi had said that the land where the preparations for the Maha Kumbh 2025 were being made was Waqf's land and that the entry of Muslims was being banned.
Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi had said in a post on X that the land where tents and shamiyanas have been put up, belongs to the Waqf. This land is about 54 bighas.
"The land where preparations are being made for Kumbh Mela belongs to Waqf - 54 bighas. Muslims showed a big heart and did not raise any objection but on the other hand, Akhada Parishad and other Babas are banning the entry of Muslims. This narrow-mindedness will have to be given up, we will have to show a big heart like Muslims," Razvi Barelvi said in a post on X.
Earlier today, Sadhvi Rithambara, founder of Param Shakti Peeth and Vatsalyagram criticised any claims made on the Maha Kumbh 2025 land and said that the place is a place to get 'Dharam' and 'punya' and said that all properties under the Waqf board should be transferred over to the government.
"Those who divided the country based on religion, are capturing India's land with the conspiracy of Waqf, this conspiracy should be stopped... politics should not be played (regarding Maha Kumbh), it is a place to get 'Dharam' and 'Punya'," Rithambara said.
Rithambara further said that all properties of the Waqf Board should be transferred over to the government.
"Everybody should attend the Maha Kumbh. After 12 Kumbhs, such 'Mahapurna' Kumbh' comes...all the properties of waqf should become that of govt," she told ANI.
The Maha Kumbh, the world's largest spiritual congregation, is being celebrated after 12 years and a huge turnout of devotees is expected in Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26. To prevent mishaps, the district administration has been taking important steps to ensure the safety of the devotees, especially for crowd management and avoiding fire incidents.