News Brief
"If I Go. . .Would They Have Tolerated": Congress President Kharge On Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha Invite
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday (17 April) accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “humiliating” President Droupadi Murmu and her predecessor Ram Nath Kovind “because they are Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe”.
Speaking at The Indian Express Idea Exchange programme, Kharge highlighted that both President Murmu and former President Kovind faced exclusion from significant ceremonial events due to their SC and ST backgrounds.
He claimed President Murmu was notably absent from the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya and the inauguration of the new Parliament building.
Similarly, former President Kovind was allegedly prevented from laying the foundation stone of the new Parliament building.
Kharge also responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charge that Congress avoided the Ram Temple consecration event due to political compulsions.
Asked whether he, with the benefit of hindsight, thought the Congress should have participated in the Ram Temple consecration, Kharge said, “That is personal faith. Whosoever wants, they can go on that day, next day or any day… He (Modi) is not a pujari. Why should he take the lead in performing, establishing the Ram idol… He just (did it) for political purposes. One-third of the temple is not completed… Is it a political function or a religious function? Why are you mixing religion with politics?”
Kharge, who belongs to the SC community, said, “My people are still not allowed today in all the temples. Leave Ram Mandir, anywhere you go, there is a fight for entry… small temples in a village, they don’t allow. You don’t allow drinking water, you don’t allow educational institutions, you don’t tolerate even a bridegroom who goes in a procession on a horse… people pull them and beat them. Keeping a moustache… tell them to clean it. So you expect me… If I go, would they have tolerated it".
“This is my fate. Why did you not allow (President Droupadi) Murmu along with the Prime Minister? She is the first citizen of this country. You didn’t allow (her). At the same time, the inauguration of (the new) Parliament (building)… you did not allow her to come there and inaugurate it. (Former president Ram Nath) Kovind… he was there… a Scheduled Caste man as President. You did not allow him to lay the foundation stone of the Parliament (building)," Kharge added.
"If other community people would have been there, you would have never violated these rules. Because they are Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe — and you talk much about this, talk about our rights — you humiliate, and you tell everybody that Congress people did not come,” he said.
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