New Delhi, July 24 (IANS) Samajwadi Party (SP) Lok Sabha member Dimple Yadav has found herself at the centre of a religious controversy after attending a political meeting inside a mosque, drawing sharp criticism from Maulana Mufti Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi, the National President of All India Muslim Jamaat.

The meeting, reportedly held inside a mosque with SP leaders including Dimple Yadav, has sparked outrage among sections of the Muslim community.

Maulana Razvi, in a strong statement, told IANS, “Dimple Yadav should have been mindful of her attire and the sanctity of the mosque. Her appearance without a dupatta was an insult to the religious sentiments of Muslims.”

He added that the mosque is a sacred place for worship, not politics, and demanded an apology from Dimple Yadav and the SP leadership.

Calling the incident “shameful”, Maulana Razvi also targeted Mohibullah Nadvi, the SP MP who facilitated the meeting. “He must apologise to the community for turning a mosque into a political platform,” he said.

The cleric further criticised Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party’s National President, Swami Prasad Maurya, accusing him of consistently disrespecting Sanatan Dharma.

“He had once burned a copy of Ramcharitmanas while he was in SP. Many of us, including myself, demanded his removal, but Akhilesh Yadav refused,” Razvi said.

He noted that Maurya eventually left SP and floated his own party a year later. Razvi said that Swami Prasad Maurya repeatedly makes statements that hurt the sentiments of other religious communities and that his presence in political discourse is dangerous for communal harmony.

The alleged political meeting inside the mosque has created a political controversy, and the BJP has blamed SP for using religious sites for political gains.

Notably, the Samajwadi Party has strongly denied the allegations with both Akhilesh and Dimple Yadav rejecting claims of a political meeting and dismissing the controversy as an attempt to distract from pressing national issues.

–IANS

sas/dpb