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‘A great fall’: VHP on CM Thackeray’s video link offer for Ram temple event
The VHP has made it clear that the bhumi poojan will be done by restricting participation to 200 people and complying with all health and security advisories.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad on Monday slammed Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for suggesting that the bhumi poojan or the ground breaking ceremony for the Ram temple construction in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya could have been performed through video conferencing.
Alok Kumar, the international working president of the VHP, said Thackeray’s statement is a “sign of the great fall of a once great Hindutva party.”
In an interview to party publication Saamana, the Maharashtra CM had questioned the decision to organise a ground breaking ceremony on August 5, which is scheduled to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also by a host of RSS and BJP leaders. All chief ministers have also been extended an invitation to be part of the ceremony.
“Bhoomi Poojan is an essential and sacred ritual before starting any construction work, we worship Mother Earth, seek Her permission to dig and construct structures and obtain Her blessings for the mission. Obviously, this cannot be done by e-conference. The country is going through its normal activities with all precautions relating to Covid-19. The Supreme Court permitted the symbolic taking out of Sri Jagannath Rath yatra. Rituals of Shri Amarnath yatra have also been performed though the yatra is not permitted this year,” Kumar said.
An affiliate of the RSS, the VHP was at the forefront of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Commenting on the concerns about maintaining the necessary protocols during the ongoing Corona pandemic, Kumar said the VHP has always made it clear that the bhumi poojan will be done by restricting participation to 200 people and complying with all health and security advisories. “In this situation, the concerns about the public health expressed by Shri Thackeray are only pretensions,” he said.
Earlier NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had also criticised the decision to hold a public ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of the temple amid the pandemic.
In March, Thackeray had visited Ayodhya to mark the completion of 100 days of his government and had also announced a contribution of Rs One crore for the construction of a grand temple. He had also said that while his party has parted ways with the BJP, it remains committed to Hindutva and that the BJP and Hindutva are separate.
