Ram temple trust land deal row escalates
Ram temple is a matter of faith. People have made donations out of faith. The trust must clarify SANJAY RAUT,
Shiv Sena leader
...there are some people in the opposition who do not like anything positive in context to the Ram temple DINESH SHARMA,
UP deputy chief minister
LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: A day after allegation that Shriram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust looking after the construction of the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya paid an inflated price for land around the temple complex, the war of words continued between the opposition parties and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with the former calling for an investigation into the “scam” and the latter saying it is a ploy to “defame” the birth place of Lord Ram.
On Sunday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and Samajwadi Party leader Pawan Pandey. alleged that Champat Rai, general secretary of Shriram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, purchased 1.208 hectares of land worth ₹2 crore in Ayodhya’s Bag Bjaisi village for ₹18.5 crore with the help of trust member Anil Mishra.
Attaching several documents, Singh tweeted: “Ravi Mohan Tiwari and Sultan Ansari bought land worth ₹2 crores at 7:10 pm. At 7:15 pm, Champat Rai of Ram Janmabhoomi Trust bought this land from them for ₹18.5 crores.”
Terming it a case of money laundering, Singh and Pandey sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the matter.
Rai has termed the charges as “misleading and motivated by political hatred”.
“After the Supreme Court’s decision on Shri Ram Janmabhoomi on November 9, 2019, innumerable people from across the country started coming to Ayodhya to buy land. Land prices have increased. The plot on which newspaper discussion is being conducted is a very prominent place near the railway station,” he said in a release, asserting that the land was purchased at a price much lower than the open market.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said misuse of donations by devotees is a sin and an insult to their faith. “Crores of people made their offerings at the feet of God out of their faith and devotion. Misuse of those donations is unrighteous and is a sin and an insult to their faith,” she said in a tweet in Hindi.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue. “Will the prime minister answer if those sinners, who have traded the faith of Lord Ram’s devotees, have his protection,” he said.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut demanded a “clarification” from the trust and other leaders, saying the construction of the temple is a matter of faith for the saffron party and the common people. Raut said Singh spoke to him on the issue on Monday morning and the “evidence provided by him is shocking”.
“Lord Ram and the fight for the Ram mandir is a matter of faith for us. For some, it is a political matter. The Trust formed for the construction of the temple should clarify if the allegations are true or false,” Raut said.
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia also sought a clarification from the Ram temple trust over the purchase of a piece of land. Terming it a “scam”, the AAP leader said the temple is being built using donations made by people and their hard-earned money should not be misused.
Backing the demand for a central agency probe into the alleged corruption, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar said the BJP and the RSS have made the shrine a “medium of business”. He also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath when action will be taken against the accused.
Hitting out at the opposition over the allegations, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma said some people do not miss any opportunity to defame the Ram Janmabhoomi.
“The official answer (to allegations of corruption) will be given by officials of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. I would say in one line that there are some people in the opposition who do not like anything positive in context to the Ram Janmabhoomi. Sometimes they say Lord Ram was fictional, and that the Ram Setu did not exist. They also taunt,” Sharma said after attending a meeting of the Uttar Pradesh cabinet.