Ram Mandir Opposition Reaction: The grand ‘pran prathistha’ ceremony of the Ram Mandir is set to be on January 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be in attendance. Over 7,000 people are on the invite list, including key people who are involved in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, cricket legends, including Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, film personalities as well as industrialists. However, the invitations have also sparked controversies, with Opposition party leaders alleging that this is a “BJP, RSS” event and some calling it a “gimmick show” ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections that is scheduled in April-May this year. Take a look at the controversies that surround the Ram Temple inauguration ceremony.
LK Advani “requested not to come”
VHP leader and Ramjanmabhoomi Teerthkshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai had said said it would be better if BJP stalwarts, L K Advani (96) and Murli Manohar Joshi (89), did not come for the consecration ceremony, given their age and health.
After the remarks stirred row, a day later, VHP chief Alok Kumar along with senior RSS leaders, Ramlal and Krishna Gopal, visited Advani at his Delhi residence and formally invited him. They also invited Joshi.
Kumar has later confirmed that L K Advani will attend the consecration ceremony.
Congress declines Ram Mandir invite
Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who were invited for the Ram Mandir inauguration on January 22, declined the invite calling it a “clearly an RSS/BJP event”.
The BJP slammed the decision saying that due to the party’s feelings of “jealously, malice and inferiority complex” towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress had declined the invite. It also said that it is the tendency of the Congress party to “create hurdles” during historic moments for the country.
Mamata Banerjee calls Ram Mandir ‘political gimmick’
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the BJP saying that the party was holding a “gimmick show” through the Ram temple event in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing a public programme in Joynagar in South 24 Parganas district, Banerjee said she doesn’t believe in dividing masses on religious lines.
“Yesterday, I was asked about Ram Mandir… I said religion belongs to different individuals, but festivals are for everyone. I believe in festivals that take along people from all communities, talk about everyone, and speak of unity… You are doing it (construction of the Ram temple) on the court’s order. He (Prime Minister Modi) will do a gimmick show before the elections. I have no objection. But it is nobody’s business to neglect people of other communities… I don’t believe in dividing people on religious lines,” the TMC chief said.
Responding to this, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya said that those who have not played any role in the Ram Janmabhoomi event, “can never understand the significance of the temple”.
Banerjee also announced that she will hold an inter-faith rally in Kolkata on January 22.
“Today I want to tell you that, on that day, I will first visit the Kali Mandir, on my own. Then I will do an interfaith rally from Hazra to Park Circus Maidan, and hold a meeting there. We will cover mosques, temples, churches and gurdwaras along the way. Everybody is welcome to join,” she said.
The BJP has accused the party of “brazen disregard for Hindu sentiments”.
Four Shankaracharyas say they won’t attend
Four Shankaracharyas, who head the four Hindu mathas (monasteries) — in Dwarka (Gujarat), Joshimath (Uttarakhand), Puri (Odisha), and Sringeri (Karnataka) – have said that they will not attend the January 22 event. The followers of eighth-century religious scholar and philosopher Adi Shankara have expressed their displeasure that the ceremony is not following the rules of Sanatan Dharma.
Shankaracharya of Puri matha Nischalananda Saraswati told reporters on January 4, “[Prime Minister] Modi will inaugurate the temple, he will touch the idol, then what am I supposed to do? Stand and clap?”
Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand said that installing the idol of Lord Ram without completing the construction of the temple was against Hinduism, and there was no need for any hurry.
However, later, denouncing the claims of opposition to the ceremony, Shankaracharyas of Kanchi and Sringeri asserted that they supported the event. Shankaracharya of Sringeri Sharada Peetham Mahasamsthanam Dakshinamnaya said that the ceremony was taking place in accordance with Hindu rituals.
Udhayanidhi Stalin on Ram Mandir
Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin said that his party did not have an issue with the Ram temple in Ayodhya, but could not accept that it was built after razing a mosque.
Quoting the late Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK patriarch K Karunanidhi, Udhayanidhi said, “Kalaignar had already said, we are not against any religion, beliefs… We do not have an issue with the temple coming up there but we cannot accept that the one that was built was built by razing a mosque. Our treasurer (TR Baalu) has already said not to link politics and spiritualism.”