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