Muslims hold the intention of demolishing Gyanvapi Shivling [ Uttar Pradesh, India]

[ Reported as seen]

The President of Rashtriya Bunkar Action Committee, Sarafaraz said, “I have said this earlier off the record, and I am saying it on the record that if we had a hint that there was a Shivling, we would have demolished and removed it from the premises.”

On May 29, Zee Hindustan aired a sting operation in connection to the disputed structure at Gyanvapi in Varanasi. The channel questioned Muslim preachers, locals and prominent personalities of the community about their views on the disputed structure. Following the sting operation, Sarfaraz, who is the President of Rashtriya Bunkar Action Committee, said during a debate that if they [Muslims] knew there was a Shivling [at Gyanvapi], they would have demolished and removed it from the premises.

Speaking to the reporter, President of Rashtriya Bunkar Action Committee Sarfaraz said, “I would like to tell you off the record. There was a temple. It was demolished. There is no doubt about that. What was built and who built it is a different case altogether. There is no proof as the Britishers took the documents with them to London. Their aim was to create communal problems in the country.”

He further added, “If they are saying it is a fountain, then it has to be called a fountain. If you have alleged that it is a Shivling, there should be an investigation.” Notably, after the sting operation, he said that the Muslims would have demolished the Shivling if they had any idea it was there.

Speaking about the historical evidence, a historian named Kunwar Mohammad Naseeb Raza Khan said there was a temple that was demolished. He further said there could not be only one Shivling, and must be many of them in the past.