Hitting back at Congress leader Salman Khurshid over his remark on the invitation extended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya next year, on January 22, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Thursday said the Congress has a known history of “being ashamed” of the country’s civilizational past and “looks at Hindus” and “Hinduism with complete disdain”.
Khurshid on Thursday alleged that the January 22 consecration of the Ram temple is being made into a programme of “just one party”.
In a further dig at the ruling party at the Centre and Uttar Pradesh, the senior Congress leader and former Union minister questioned if God was now limited to one party.
Responding to Khurshid’s remark, Reddy, on Thursday, posted from his official handle on X, “The Congress has a known history of being ashamed of its civilisational past and looks at Hindus and Hinduism with complete disdain.”
In a series of posts, Reddy hit back at the Congress, reminding them that Sardar Patel wanted to reconstruct the Somnath Temple, as Mahatma Gandhi had wished in November 1947. “Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru vehemently opposed the move,” the BJP Telangana chief posted.
He added that in May 1951, he (Nehru) wrote several letters to (then) President Rajendra Prasad to prevent him (Gandhiji) from participating in the “prana pratishta” of the Somnath temple.
“When President Rajendra Prasad wanted to collect water and twigs from other countries to consecrate the temple, Pt Nehru termed it as rash. In the notes to the Foreign Secretary and others, Pt Nehru termed it as fanciful and asked embassies to not entertain such requests. Not only that, the anti-Sanatana Dharma partners of the Congress in Tamil Nadu, the DMK also oppose Lord Rama,” the BJP’s Telangana chief posted on X.
Also hitting out at the Congress’s ally in the INDIA bloc, the BJP leader said DMK cadres struck an effigy of Lord Ram with “slippers” and “then burnt it” during a rally in Tamil Nadu’s Salem on January 24, 1971.
He alleged further that in September 2007, in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the then Congress government wanted to “dismantle the Ram Setu to build the Sethusamudram shipping canal project”.
“In an affidavit filed in front of SC, it stated that _’mythological texts, which formed an important part of ancient Indian literature cannot be said to be historical records to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters or the occurrence of the event’,” Reddy posted further.
“Former CM of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi asked about Lord Ram _”Who is Ram? In which engineering college did he study and become a civil engineer? When did he build this so-called bridge? Is there any evidence for this?” the BJP leader posted further from his X handle.
He also called on the Ram Janma Bhoomi Tirtha Kshetra to keep “anti-Sanatana Dharma forces” at a distance considering their “past record”.
Earlier, speaking to ANI, Khurshid said, “Is the invitation (for the consecration of the Ram Temple) going to just one party? I cannot comment on who would reach and who would not. But is God now limited to one party? The invitation should be for everyone. It is being made into a programme of just one party. Is this a party programme or related to only one person? The invitations should have been sent to everyone.”
On Wednesday, PM Modi received a formal invitation for the consecration ceremony of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, next year.
The construction of the temple has been progressing at a steady pace under the supervision of the Trust. The idol of Ram Lalla will be installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
The foundation stone for the construction of the Ram Temple was laid by PM Modi on August 5, 2020.