‘States should work for development, conservation of religious places’
VARANASI: UP religious affairs minister Neelkanth Tiwari said that every state should work prominently for conservation and development of religious places. In UP, all historical and religious places are being developed prominently.
He was speaking at the first session of the two-day convention of Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti which began in Varanasi on Saturday. Over a dozen prominent seers from different places attended the convention on the first day. The minister said, “The department of religious affairs was created in 1983. But it was not of any use because its directorate had not been created. With the establishment of the directorate in Kashi, development work related to religion and tourism will get a boost.
“There have been many attacks on our culture, over the years. Various invaders, including the Mughals and the British banned taking a holy dip in the Ganga, imposed a tax on worship in temples and also banned wearing saffron clothes,” said the minister adding that the seers saved Sanatan culture.
“The seers instilled in society that rajsatta (state) is not our king. Our king is Ramachandra. That is why the need of the hour is that every state should work for the conservation and development of religious places prominently. Today our historical places in Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Mathura, and Kashi and other locations in the state are being developed.
“When a person abroad imagines the best rule in the world, he thinks of Ramrajya, and then he reaches Ayodhya in UP,” he said and added that due to the pilgrimage centres of Sanatan culture, Uttar Pradesh is on top in the field of tourism.
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai said that after the foundation of the Ram temple in Ayodhya was laid on August 5, 2020, the campaign for the construction of a grand temple of Sri Ram has been launched with the blessings of the seers and a fund is being raised for it. Ram temple construction will begin on January 14. Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti president Avichal Das Ji Maharaj expressed his gratitude towards the seers and Kashi Vidwat Parishad, an organisation of intellectuals of Varanasi, for attending the convention.
Samiti spokesperson Baba Balakdas said that the voice of the seers will pave the way for the rise of Sanatan Sanskriti in the whole country. In the second session, VHP’s Ashok Tiwari said that cases of love jihad are increasing in rural and urban areas of the country because youths are away from the values of Sanatan Sanskriti.