New Delhi: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Tuesday officially endorsed the Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan ceremony in Ayodhya scheduled for the next day, saying “Ram sabke hain (Ram belongs to everyone)”.
“By Lord Ram’s grace, let this ceremony promote national unity, brotherhood, and cultural confluence,” she said in a statement. “Bhagwan Ram, Mata Sita and Ramayan have been highlighted in our religious and cultural texts for thousands of years.”
Priyanka Gandhi added that Ram is present in various forms across the country, and that he belongs to everyone from Shabri to Sugreev, Valmiki to Bhāsa, Kamban to Ezhuthachchan, to Kabir, Tulsidas and Ravidas. “Sabke data Ram hain (Ram is everyone’s provider),” she said.
सरलता, साहस, संयम, त्याग, वचनवद्धता, दीनबंधु राम नाम का सार है। राम सबमें हैं, राम सबके साथ हैं।
भगवान राम और माता सीता के संदेश और उनकी कृपा के साथ रामलला के मंदिर के भूमिपूजन का कार्यक्रम राष्ट्रीय एकता, बंधुत्व और सांस्कृतिक समागम का अवसर बने।
मेरा वक्तव्य pic.twitter.com/ZDT1U6gBnb
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) August 4, 2020
“Gandhi’s ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’… Waris Ali Shah’s ‘Jo Rab hai Wohi Ram Hai’… Ram is everyone’s,” she added in her statement. Priyanka Gandhi also signed off the statement with the traditional greeting of ‘Jai Siya Ram’, instead of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, which is more closely identified with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Also read: Celebrate Diwali before Diwali — BJP’s grand plans for Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan day
Other Congress leaders’ support
Gandhi’s statement comes after numerous senior Congress leaders came out in support of the Ram Mandir — the latest being former Union minister Manish Tewari, who put out a video Tuesday, humming lines from the bhajan ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’.
“I congratulate all citizens of the country on this occasion (shubh avsar),” Tewari added.
भगवान रामचन्द्र जी महाराज के भूमी पूजन के शुभ अफसर पर सब वैष्णव जनो और महनुभवों को कोटी कोटी बधाई pic.twitter.com/R00cfIWwu0
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) August 4, 2020
Former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath had said last week that the Ram Temple is being constructed in Ayodhya “with the consent of every Indian”. He had also announced that he would host a recital of the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ at his Bhopal residence a day before the Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan.
ThePrint had earlier reported how many senior Congress leaders, such as Digvijaya Singh, Salman Khurshid and Anil Shastri, were upset over not being extended an invite for the ceremony.
“The way the invitations have been sent, it has been done in order for BJP to steal the credit for this entirely,” Singh had said.
The former MP CM also questioned the timing of the ceremony, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to put it off, insisting that the timing is “inauspicious”.
“Modi-ji, how many more do you want to send to hospital by performing the groundbreaking rituals? Yogi-ji you please talk to the PM. How can you allow the violation of Sanatan Dharma? What is your compulsion,” Singh had tweeted Monday.
मोदी जी आप अशुभ मुहुर्त में भगवान राम मंदिर का शिलान्यास कर और कितने लोगों को अस्पताल भिजवाना चाहते हैं? योगी जी आप ही मोदी जी को समझाइए। आपके रहते हुए सनातन धर्म की सारी मर्यादाओं को क्यो तोड़ा जा रहा है? और आपकी क्या मजबूरी है जो आप यह सब होने दे रहे हैं?
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) August 3, 2020
Also read: Mahant of Nepal’s Janaki Temple invited to Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan in Ayodhya
But PAtel, Nehru, Gandhi and other Freedom Fighters belong the Congress Party…. I guess most other parties selectively do not want them either… that is a different matter.
Had the construction of a magnificent Ram temple been taking place in a pristine forest glade, 1.3 billion Indians would have felt emotionally invested in the project. The Babri Masjid was not simply a disputed structure. This site itself was cleared for construction on 6th December 1992. The same apex court which has delivered a remarkable, unanimous judgment on its ownership has been unable to quash the criminal trial. 2. The remarks of various Congress leaders reek of cynicism and opportunism. One is not sure how many Hindu votes these statements will inveigle. However, Muslims will make their own assessments. As so many Dalits have.
“…..belongs to everyone.”
Really?
Why did you wake up so late?
Appeasement of special people is now a failed business model, is it?
It is important to reiterate the reason why 5 August has been chosen by BJP to build Ram Mandir and was chosen to abrogate Article 370 so that people understand the philosophy of the party in power. It was in 1938 that the Muslim Conference (which later became the National Conference) headed by Sheikh Abdullah gave the call for observing 5th August 1938 as Responsible Government day. This was a revolutionary step for till then the National Conference was chiefly agitating for more jobs and other facilities for Muslims changed tack and started agitating for the change from feudal rule by a Hindu Maharajah to a responsible government in which all people of the State irrespective of caste,creed or religion would be stake holders. Some Hindus and Sikhs including Jia Lal Kilam, Kashyap Bandhu and Sardar Budh Singh supported this demand and took part in Drafting the National Demands Document.This led to a National Demands agitation which was supported by All India States People Conference led by Jawaharlal Nehru. The National Demands document was adopted first by the people of Rajkot and then by people of many other Princely States kick starting a struggle for responsible government in all Princely States. The movement against feudal rule and the anger against feudal rulers was according to Ian Copland used by Patel and Menon to persuade the rulers of Princely States ruled by Hindu Rulers to submit to the rule of a secular Congress. BJP considers the 5th August Responsible Government Day celebrated on 5th August 1938 in Kashmir as responsible for the ultimate replacement of Hindu Rule by a secular rule and hence its choice of 5th August for fragmenting and destroying the Jammu and Kashmir State. It may seem odd to many but there is a big group represented by the party in power which believes in Hindutva and would have preferred an India with Hindu Maharajahs i.e. a Hindu Rashtra. It considers the integration of States ruled by Hindu Maharajahs into a secular India by Nehru’s party as a great setback.The Malegaon episode shows that this viewpoint is very much alive.As it was the Responsible Government Day celebrated on 5th August 1938 which kick started the movement in Princely States against the Maharajahs hence it is considered a black day by Hindutva parties .This is why Article 370 was abrogated on August 5.