Eminent Citizens, Religious Leaders Appeal PM to Stop ‘Coercive’ Fund Collection Drive for Ram Temple

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Eminent citizens, religious leaders urge PM narendra Modi to stop 'coercive'fund collection drive for Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya.

India Tomorrow

NEW DELHI—A civil society group of activists, eminent citizens and leaders of prominent religious organisations has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding immediate action to stop the coercion in the fund collection drive for the construction of Ayodhya Ram Temple across the country, which is disturbing the law and order.

Extending greetings of the 72nd Republic day of India, the eminent citizens in their letter, wrote, “We wish to draw your urgent attention towards the recent activities with regard to fund collection for the construction of Ram Temple.

In many sensitive areas, the element of coercion by the fund collectors has all the ingredients of creating for a breakdown of law and order and social harmony. The drive for fund collection for the construction of Ayodhya Ram Mandir started on December 25, 2020 from the state of Madhya Pradesh which resulted in communal violence on a large scale. It has taken place in four districts of Madhya Pradesh, namely, Mandsaur, Chandankhedi (Indore), Ujjain and Rajgarh.  In Jeerapura Mohalla, there was massive destruction of public and private properties, loss of innocent lives and grave injuries to many inhabitants.”

The letter continued, “It was callous on the part of the state government in spite of the violence the collection drive was carried out in the rest of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh from 15 January 2021 onwards. In fact, these events are leading to a communally polarized and tense environment in most places. In the last week, another incident took place. A video went viral on social media in which the two men could be seen making highly objectionable remarks against the Muslim community during a motorcycle rally to collect funds for the Ram Temple. The said rally, which took place in the Shikarpur area of Bulandshahar district, Uttar Pradesh, was organized by the VHP. The two men shouted abusive slogans in the middle of the road, recorded their act on camera and shared it on social media. Three days ago, three persons were injured in a clash between two community members in Gujarat’s Kutch district during a rally for the Collection of Funds for the Ram Temple.  Minister for Food & Civil Supplies, K. Gopalaiah together with MLA Preetham Gowda and other BJP workers, went door to door to raise donations at Beerahnahalli, Shivamogga, Karnataka forgetting their constitutional obligations.”

The letter has pointed out that the slogans being shouted and the routes chosen intentionally from specific areas strengthens the apprehension and indicates towards the actual objectives of such activities. “It seems that more than the fund collection, the objective is to polarize the society on communal grounds. These elements are teasing, provoking and trying to create an atmosphere of fear amongst specifically the Muslim community and all others who are not in line with these elements,” the letter added.

 The civil society group has suggested avoiding localities and the immediate vicinity of religious places of other communities during the rallies and fund collection drives. “It is the duty of the law and order machinery to ensure that there is no coercion and communal provocations in these fund collection drives,” the letter further added.

The signatories  to the letter are  President of All India Muslim Majlis Mushawarat Naved Hamid, Imarat-e-Shariah Bihar head Maulana Wali Rahmani, Ittehad-e-Millat Council president Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Syed Sadatullah Husaini, Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadees chief Moulana Asghar Imam Mehdi, IOS Dr. Manzoor Alam,  former Chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission Dr. Zafar Ul Islam Khan, Executive Director of South Asia Human Rights  Documentation Centre Ravi Nair,  Prof. Ram Puniyani,  Prof. Apoorvanand of Delhi University,  Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani Secretary of AIMPLB, Maulana Mohsin Taqwi Khateeb of Shia, Jama Masjid, Delhi, Mufti Abdur Raziq President of Jamiatul Ulama, Mrs Kavita Shrivastava of PUCL, Engineer Mohammad Saleem General Secretary of FDCA, Mr. Dankesh Oza, RTI activist, Gujarat, Mr. Sawai Singh, activist  Rajasthan and eductionist Ambarish Rai.

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