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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said “those who had fired on Ram devotees, subjected saints to lathicharge, and ignored Ayodhya” should only visit the Ram temple after apologising to the devotees and saints.
The chief minister’s remark came within hours of the announcement that Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav would visit the Ram temple in Ayodhya on December 12.
“Those who had neglected and insulted (Ayodhya), who had opened fire on Ram devotees and subjected saints to lathicharge, should certainly come to Ayodhya, but only after apologising. Let them apologise once to Ram devotees and once to the saints. Let them repent for their actions,” Adityanath said, while addressing the 10th edition of Deepotsav in Ayodhya.
Vice President C P Radhakrishnan, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, and others were present.
Without naming the Samajwadi Party or its president Yadav, the chief minister took swipe at the previous governments over the handling of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, the firing on kar sevaks and the alleged neglect of Ayodhya. He appeared to refer to Yadav’s recent participation in a religious discourse in Ayodhya, questioning the conduct of certain political leaders at religious gatherings.
“Those who used to leave the streets of Ayodhya soaked in blood are today unable even to recall their own past,” Adityanath said, adding that some people did not even understand the decorum of a religious discourse.
“Sometimes I am surprised at these people. When they go to a religious discourse, they do not even know the decorum of a katha (religious narration). Is it a katha or a mushaira (Urdu poetry gathering)? Even this they do not know. We have our own decorum and sacred traditions for religious discourses. But because of their unruly disposition, they disregard the dignity of Lord Ram and the sanctity of the katha, and make an ill-advised attempt to turn it into a mushaira,” he said.
Adityanath said Lord Ram represented India’s national consciousness, culture, values and self-respect, describing him as the very life force of the nation.
“Look at the scene that has come alive before us today. This is the strength of Lord Ram’s consciousness. It is, in fact, the consciousness of India. This is India’s culture and its values. Lord Ram is the life force of the Indian nation and, if you may say so, Lord Ram is India’s self-respect,” he said.
