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Nawab's plans for Ram Lalla
Nawab Shahid Khan having had to abandon his plan to offer a bhog of 1,100 laddoos to Ram Lalla, reports Vijay Sharma.
Nawab Shahid Khan is a disappointed man, having had to abandon his plan to offer a bhog of 1,100 laddoos to Ram Lalla at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple. No thanks to the suspicious local administration. But not one to back down, he promises to be back on January 22, this time with a jhula made of gold for his beloved deity.
The temple’s chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das told the Hindustan Times on Wednesday that since local officials had even questioned his entry in the temple complex, this time, Khan planned to take the consent of the Faizabad commissioner — who also happens to be the receiver of the temple — to offer bhog and donate the jhula.
Das said he personally felt there was nothing wrong in a Muslim offering bhog to Ram Lalla and that he would do everything possible to ensure Khan got his wish this time around.
Das felt the administration’s actions made little sense as the temple had been facing an acute shortage of funds for the past three months and had even bought bhog on credit from sweet shops. “Earlier, I used to take everything on credit and then submit monthly bills to the ADM of the Janmabhoomi premises, who used to verify and pass the bills before forwarding the same to the commissioner for payment,” Das said.
He added that the problems started when the commissioner went on leave and no payments were made in September, October and November. Even the salaries of temple employees were paid while the dues mounted up to Rs 1.12 lakh. It was only after the story appeared in the media that the administration cleared the pending bills in the absence of the commissioner, Das said.
Das said he was introduced to Khan by a journalist. He said Khan had come all the way from Hyderabad after reading about the temple’s financial crisis in the papers. Khan told Das he thought of Ram as one of the prophets and wanted to offer 1,100 laddoos.
