Ayodhya Ram Temple fund drive has been in headlines since the past two weeks.
Many politicians and celebrities donated hefty amounts for the construction of the Ayodhya Ram Temple. Started from the 15th of January, till date the Ram Ayodhya Temple trust collected nearly Rs. 1,517 crores. The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra under the supervision of Treasurer Govind Dev Giri is responsible for the fund raising drive across India.
However, many politicians and leaders showed disappointment over the fund collection drive.
D. Kumaraswamy, the Indian National Congress (INC) leader and former Chief Minister of Karnataka, on the 17th of February, spoke about the Ram Ayodhya Temple fund drive.
Mr. Kumaraswamy said he was threatened by three people, demanding money for the temple.
D. Kumaraswamy addressed the media and said, “If I being former CM can be threatened, one can easily imagine how the fund raising drive in the state must be going on.”
Mr. Kumaraswamy said he had no memory of knowing any of the three people and never saw them in the past.
Mr. Kumaraswamy criticised the way of the fundraising and said, “Who has given them permission? They are threatening people. Even I am a victim. Three people came to my house including a woman and they threatened me by asking why I wasn’t giving money for the temple.”
Mr. Kumaraswamy shared the same incident with people through the micro blogging platform Twitter.
He took to his official Twitter handle and lashed out at people who criticised him for questioning construction of the temple and the drive.
In a series of tweets in Kannada, Mr. Kumaraswamy said he does not need any certificate from his detractors by terming them as rats and fake Hindus.
In another tweet, he said, “Our family believes in worshipping God including Lord Rama, but has never indulged in dividing people on communal lines. But some fake Hindus and rats are doing it.”
However, he cleared his stance and said he is not against the Ram Temple but the way they are collecting funds from people.
He said, “It is the job of Vishva Hindu Parishad to clarify about fundraising. They must come out clean. Their past history of collecting funds from the public in 1989 itself and not giving details about it till date is there in front of us to examine. They must come out in the open about it.”
Recently, on the 15th of February, Mr. Kumaraswamy alleged the Rashtriya swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of marking houses of people who did not give donation for the Ayodhya Ram Temple. He tweeted the same and compared the fund raising technique to Nazis of Germany.
Mr. Kumaraswamy said, “It appears that those collecting donations for the construction of Ram Mandir have been separately marking the houses of those who paid money and those who did not. This is similar to what Nazis did in Germany during the regime of Hitler when lakhs of people lost their lives.”
Countering the allegations of Mr. Kumaraswamy, the current Chief Minister of Karnataka, B.S. Yediyurappa said, “We are not forcing anyone to donate for Ram temple. When Hindu, Muslim and Christians are assisting one mother (India), some people are making nasty comments, which doesn’t suit their stature.”
The war of words over Ram Temple intensified after several RSS members and other right wing supporters criticised Mr. Kumaraswamy and other INC leaders for questioning the transparency of the fund raising drive.
The supporters even asked Mr. Kumaraswamy to prove his claims.
Meanwhile, the Ram temple in Ayodhya is one of the major agendas of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Assembly poll manifesto.
On the 5th of August 2020, at 12:30 P.M, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the stone for the construction of the most awaited Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust is taking care of the construction and development work of the Ayodhya Ram temple.
Stay tuned for further updates.
