The Eid Namaz was not held on roadways for the first time in Uttar Pradesh, and ‘the volume of the mosque loudspeaker has gone down’ as a result of the state’s recent crackdown, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Sunday, pointing to his government’s retention of power in the upcoming elections.
He was addressing at an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of RSS-affiliated periodicals Organiser and Panchjanya.
Other BJP chief ministers spoke at the occasion, including Goa’s Pramod Sawant, who called for the reconstruction of temples demolished in the past, and Uttarakhand’s Pushkar Singh Dhami, who reiterated that his state will form a’special committee’ to execute the Uniform Civil Code.
Manipur’s chief minister (N Biren Singh), Himachal Pradesh’s chief minister (Jai Ram Thakur), and Haryana’s chief minister (M L Khattar) spoke mostly about various government schemes and development projects in their states.
Adityanath mentioned the BJP regaining power in UP and spoke about his government’s achievements, particularly in peace and order in the background of communal riots in other states last month during a string of religious holidays.
‘After the elections, there were disturbances in numerous states. ‘There were no disturbances in Uttar Pradesh before or after the polls,’ he claimed.
‘Ram Navami was celebrated with zeal after the creation of the administration. The Hanuman Jayanti ceremonies went off without a hitch. This is the same UP where minor issues erupted into riots. You must have noticed for the first time that the Eid namaz was not held on the roads. You must have noticed that either the level of the mosque loudspeaker has been reduced or the loudspeaker has been removed entirely. These loudspeakers are now being provided to schools and hospitals for use,’ he explained.
He claims that over 1 lakh loudspeakers have had their volumes reduced or removed.
Adityanath also addressed the issue of stray livestock in the state, detailing the efforts taken by his administration. ‘You may recall that when our state administration took power, it shut down all illegal slaughterhouses.’ But there was a negative side effect that we had to deal with: stray cattle roaming the roads and fields,’ he explained.
‘They were previously trafficked into clandestine slaughterhouses. To meet this difficulty, we built over 5,600 stray cattle shelters. We are also developing a new model in which we will produce CNG from cow dung, which will be sold to the public for Rs 1 per kg. ‘We’ve taken every precaution to protect cows,’ he said.
Adityanath remarked about the construction of a “great Ram temple” in Ayodhya, the “splendour” with which the Kashi Vishwanath temple complex has been revitalised, and the revitalization of pilgrimage places such as Mathura, Vrindavan, and Chitrakoot.
According to the Chief Minister, UP has begun to move toward becoming the country’s No. 2 economy under a ‘twin engine’ government led by the BJP in the Centre too.
‘In 70 years, UP has risen to sixth place among the country’s economy. UP’s per capita income has remained one-fourth of the national average during the last 70 years. We have more than increased it in the last five years. UP has risen to second place in the country for ease of doing business. UP also ranks first in 44 programmes for ease of life. UP is experiencing the most infrastructure development, and the state is now recognised as an expressway,’ he said.
Goa Chief Minister Sawant stated that his government has budgeted for the rebuilding of temples destroyed by the Portuguese.
‘During the 450 years of Portuguese control, Hindu culture was destroyed, and many people were converted.’The state temples were destroyed. We’re going to revitalise them all… ‘I feel that temples that have been destroyed should be rebuilt,’ he remarked.
Sawant stated that, in addition to beaches, the Goa government promotes cultural and spiritual tourism in the interior and encourages tourists to visit temples. ‘There are a number of temples in every village. ‘We need to get people from the shore to the shrine,’ he explained.
Sawant stated that Goa already has a Uniform Civil Code and asked other states to do the same. ‘We discussed the Goa UCC with other chief ministers as well,’ he added. According to him, the Goa administration is also seeking to resume mining in the state.
Dhami of Uttarakhand stated that, in addition to efforts to implement the Uniform Civil Code, a specific effort is underway to identify infiltrators and that the anti-conversion statute will be strengthened.
‘We have decided to form a Uniform Civil Code group.’ The group will include legal professionals as well as stakeholders. We shall put into action the draught that the committee proposes… We will implement the Uniform Civil Code, for which we are preparing, and we want other states to follow suit,’ he said during an interview with Panchjanya editor Hitesh Shankar.
When asked about ‘infiltrators’ such as ‘Rohingyas’ or people with criminal records settling in the state, Dhami stated, ‘We have done surveys, and a special police campaign is also underway to uncover such elements.’