Farooq Abdullah, the president of the National Conference, attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday for supposedly sending out invitations to the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple, which is scheduled for January 22 in Ayodhya. Does Lord Ram exclusively have BJP membership? To whom are they to extend invitations? If I want to go to Umrah, do I need an invitation? Is an invitation required for anyone to visit the Ram temple? Says Farooq Abdullah in conversation with reporters.
Farooq Abdullah continued, saying that there was no need for an invitation for anyone who wished to visit the Ram temple. The leader of the National Conference had previously expressed joy over the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, stating that India needed to revitalize brotherhood as it was dwindling.
“Ayodhya Ram temple is about to be inaugurated. I would like to congratulate everyone who made the effort for the temple. It’s ready now… I also want to say to the entire nation that Lord Rama doesn’t only belong to Hindus. He belongs to everyone in the world. He is the Lord for all the people across the world. It’s written in the books,” Abdullah had earlier said.
Asserting that Lord Ram was not just the God of Hindus but everyone, Farooq Abdullah said, “Lord Ram is the god of everyone, Muslims, Christians, and others. Similarly, Allah is also everyone’s God, not just of Muslims.”
“A very prominent writer from Pakistan, who passed away recently, wrote that Ram was also sent by Allah to show the right path to the people. So, those who say that we are the only devotees of Ram, are fools. They only want to sell Ram, they don’t have any affection for him…” he added.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has sent invitations to the people of all walks of life for the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple. The list of people invited included politicians, celebrities, industrialists and the like.
Earlier on Friday, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India Adar Poonawalla confirmed that he was invited to attend the ‘pran-pratishtha’ ceremony.
Adar Poonawalla wrote on X, “Through senior RSS functionaries like Shri. @Manojpochat, Pracharak Shri. Kedar Kulkarni, & Shri. Prasad Lawalekar, I am humbled to receive the invitation to the Prabhu Shri Ram Lalla Mandir at Ayodhya. I have gladly accepted the invitation, and I look forward to seeing the Shri. Ram Mandir shortly.
The invitation to attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony has been extended to others, including prominent Congressmen Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, athletes Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, and businessmen Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, and TS Kalyanaraman.
However, Sonia Gandhi, Kharge, Lalu Prasad Yadav and several other opposition leaders have decided to skip the grand ceremony, calling it a BJP’s ‘political event’.
“While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event,” the statement issued by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh read.
Meanwhile, opposition leaders such as Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal accepted the invitation.
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