Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday that “those who fired on Ram devotees, subjected saints to lathicharge” 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 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 and Governor Anandiben Patel, among others, attended the event.
While he made the allegations, Adityanath did not name the SP or its chief.
At the same time, he appeared to refer to Yadav’s recent show-up for a religious discourse in Ayodhya.
“Those who used to leave the streets of Ayodhya soaked in blood are today unable even to recall their own past,” Adityanath said, adding, “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 (poetry gathering)? Even this they do not know,” he said.
Adityanath said Lord Ram represented India’s national consciousness, culture, values and self-respect, and called him 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,” he said.
Referring to Ayodhya being called the first among the seven sacred cities (Saptapuris) in Hindu scriptures, Adityanath said the city faced several challenges; still, Ram devotees, saints, Naga ascetics, Nihang Sikhs and people from every section of society resisted them.
“Today, Ayodhya is once again regaining the glory for which kar sevaks sacrificed their lives and revered saints struggled,” he said, as he paid his tributes to former Vishva Hindu Parishad chief Ashok Singhal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the success of Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
“There was a time when even uttering the name of Shri Ram in Ayodhya invited lathis and bullets. Banning the very name of Ram in this city was a sin. Ayodhya was neglected and almost consigned to oblivion. Today, that very Ayodhya has come alive again, reminding us of the Treta Yuga,” he added.
Adityanath also targeted the Congress, without naming it, referring to the legal battle over the Ram Janmabhoomi and attempts in courts to question the existence of Lord Ram.
“Those who assembled an army of lawyers in courts to deny the existence of Lord Ram have at least now acquired the wisdom to accept his existence. This is our ideological victory,” he said.
“Ram accepts everyone. But if someone comes in the guise of Mareech (the demon who disguised himself as a golden deer to lure Lord Ram away from Sita), he will not be able to escape Ram’s arrows,” he added.
Adityanath said that while the country is moving forward under Modi’s leadership, “Manthara and Mareech sitting in the chamber of anger” are conspiring to destabilise the country by reviving Naxalism, terrorism and anarchy.
A decade ago, few could have imagined Ayodhya hosting a grand Deepotsav or its women could return home late at night without fear, he said.
“Ayodhya, once marked by poor electricity supply, inadequate sanitation and narrow lanes, now has four-lane roads leading to the Ram Temple, an international airport named after Maharishi Valmiki, expanded corridors and a developed railway station with Vande Bharat and Amrit Bharat trains. The city is also emerging as a solar city,” the priest-politician said.
The chief minister said Deepotsav’s message of security, good governance and prosperity is reaching villages across the state.
Recalling the festival’s first edition in 2017, when 25,000 lamps were lit, Adityanath claimed the state then lacked funds even to pay government employees’ salaries.
He accused previous governments of looting public money through syndicates and buying properties abroad.
