Ram Mandir not BJP’s Poll Plank but a Matter of Faith for Countrymen: PM Modi
Srinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday ripped the opposition parties particularly the Congress over their accusing the ruling BJP of making the Ram temple in Ayodhya a “poll plank” which, he said, was incorrect. He asserted that Ram Mandir, in fact, is a matter of faith for the people of the country.
While speaking at an election rally in the garrison town of Udhampur, the Prime Minister said, “You must have seen how the Congress hates the Ram Mandir. The Congress and its entire ecosystem start screaming if there is even a reference to the Ram Mandir”. He added, “They say the Ram Mandir is an election issue for the BJP. It was never an election issue and will never be an election issue.”
The Prime Minister sought to compare the mindset of the Congress and its allies in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc with that of the Mughals, who he said, “used to derive pleasure from vandalising temples”. He accused the opposition of teasing the country’s majority Hindu community by displaying videos of consuming meat during the month of Sawan to consolidate their vote banks.
He asserted that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya movement started when the BJP was not even born, and the British were yet to come to India. “It is a 500-year-old matter when there was no thought of elections,” he said.
The Prime Minister referring to the Congress’s declining the invitation to the Ram temple consecration ceremony said, “What kind of an election game was it that you declined the invite to this sacred event? It is an election issue for the Congress and the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, whereas it is a matter of devotion and faith for the country’s people.” He added that the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya was a “victory of tolerance…. a victory after a long wait of 500 years.”
He asserted that when foreign invaders vandalised temples, the people of India fought to protect their religious places and faced the worst situations for protecting their faith. “Post-independence, while they (Congress leaders) were living in huge bungalows Ram Lalla was living in a tent and people would from pillar to post to get the tent changed during rains, only to be threatened with court cases,” he said, adding, “This was an assault on the faith of crores of people who considered Ram as the prime deity for worship. We had told these people that one day, Ram will return to his abode”.
The Prime Minister asked the opposition not to forget three things — one, this is a reality now after 500 years of fighting. Do you agree? Secondly, it has been done through a full process of the judiciary. It has been vetted by a court judgment and its justice delivery system. Thirdly, the people of India have contributed every penny for the construction of the temple, not the government."
He said that the trustees of the temple, after forgiving the opposition leaders for the sins committed by them against those batting for the shrine, invited them by personally visiting their homes, but “they declined the invitation”.