Need strict action against those spoiling communal harmony: BSP chief on ruckus at UP mausoleum

Lucknow, Aug 12 (PTI) Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati called for strict action against those disturbing communal harmony on Tuesday, a day after members of Hindu right-wing outfits created a ruckus at a mausoleum in UP’s Fatehpur district claiming it to be a temple site.

More than 150 people have been booked for damaging public property and disturbing peace following the Monday incident.

"... the government should not allow any community to take any such step which may create communal tension and also spoil the mutual brotherhood and harmony,” Mayawati said in a post on X in Hindi.

Claiming it to be a temple site where they had the right to pray, the members of Hindu right-wing outfits created a ruckus at a centuries-old mausoleum in Fatehpur.

“The government must take this matter seriously and take strict action if required,” the BSP chief said.

Fatehpur Superintendent of Police Anoop Kumar Singh on Monday said, "We have found several videos showing several people carrying saffron flags, chanting 'Jai Shree Ram' around the tomb, but no one was seen carrying firearms." Police have named in the FIR Dharmendra Singh (Bajrang Dal), Abhishek Shukla (BJP), Ajay Singh (District Panchayat Member), Devnath Dhakad (BJP), Vinay Tiwari (Municipal Councillor), Pushpraj Patel, Rithik Pal (BJP), Prasoon Tiwari (BJP), and Pappu Chauhan (Samajwadi Party).

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Monday had said that the government had taken the incident seriously.

A security cover had been laid around the centuries-old mausoleum of Nawab Abu Samad after BJP district president Mukhlal Pal warned the district administration that he, along with Hindu organisations, would perform prayers at the site on August 11.

Pal claimed that the centuries-old structure was a temple with a 'shivling'.

A video that made rounds on social media showed some people vandalising parts of the structure and hoisting a saffron flag.

The Fatehpur SP had also said that police were probing how the mob entered the mausoleum. PTI COR NAV NB NB