Picture : ANI / X
The Congress party has has slammed the BJP and the RSS for politicising the Ram temple consecration ceremony and alleged that it is a 50-year-old political project of the saffron camp.
Addressing a press conference at Puthinadi in Jorhat district as reported by PTI , Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh defended the party senior leaders’ stand of not accepting the invitation for Ram temple consecration ceremony, scheduled to take place on January 22.
“This event (consecration ceremony) is a 50-year-old political project of the BJP-RSS. The producer, director, main actor, only actor, music director is our Prime Minister. This is autocracy and we cannot accept that,” he added.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s press conference in Nagaland during ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Ramesh said the Congress is not anti-religious, but it respects all religions and celebrates all of them.
“We respect people’s faith in different religions. The Yatra is a multi-temple, multi-religious programme. The Yatra plays the shehnai of democracy,” he stressed.
Terming the consecration ceremony a political convention, Ramesh said the Congress is not in a position to be a part of this political plan, function and invitation.
“Religion is a personal issue and belief. Everyone has faith in different religions. We are a multi-religious, multi-linguistic and multi-regional society. Unity in diversity — our Constitution and democracy are based on this,” he added. Citing Gandhi, Ramesh said Congress cannot stop anyone from visiting temples, mosques or churches.
“Temples, mosques and churches will continue to be built because of people’s faith. Four big religions originated from this land.
“We don’t need any certificate from Narendra Modi or Amit Shah. Actually they are anti-religion, they don’t know the meaning of religion. Using religion for politics is against religion as well as against politics. It demeans religion,” he added.
