Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brijesh Pathak on Friday expressed anger over the controversy over the alleged misappropriation of donations made to the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. He claimed that no one is asking about the status of funds collected for the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
“Babri Masjid also collected donations. No one is asking what happened to that money. The Samajwadi Party and Congress are only indulging in politics of appeasement and attacking Sanatan Dharma to attract Muslim voters,” Brijesh Pathak said.
He also alleged illegal activities, including “terrorist financing” in religious schools. He said: “In our border areas, what is happening in religious schools? What is the Lord doing there? People should think about that as well.”
It was not clear whether he was talking about the mosque that was demolished in 1992 or the replacement land allocated for the mosque after the disputed plot of land was awarded to the Hindu side for building a temple in 2019. The allocated plot of land is located in Dhanipur, about 18 km from the site of the original Babri Mosque. There was also controversy in Bengal recently when a TMC leader who was later expelled called for the construction of a Babri Mosque-style mosque there.
The Pran Pratishtha ceremony was held at Ram Mandir in January 2024, years after the Supreme Court ruling in 2019 on the plot of land where a mob demolished the Babri Mosque in 1992.
In the same ruling, the Supreme Court directed the Center and the Union government to allocate 5 acres of land elsewhere for construction of a new mosque. The court said the demolition of Babri Mosque in 1992 was illegal.
What is the controversy over donations in Ayodhya?
The controversy surrounding donations to the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya escalated after allegations leveled by a Samajwadi Party MLA, who said the donations were worth nearly $7.5 crores were stolen.
Amid mounting criticism from the Opposition and a request to the court for a probe into the allegations, the Union government has ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which has been tasked with submitting its final report.
On Thursday, an FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust. Eight have been arrested in the case so far – Ramashankar Yadav, also known as Tinu, assistant general secretary of the trust, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Karunesh Pandey, Manish Yadav, Lavkush Mishra, Ramashankar Mishra and Subhash Srivastava, a retired bank employee who was responsible for counting donations.
The temple trust’s general secretary, Champat Rai, was also questioned by the special investigation team last week in connection with the case.
UP Minister hits back at Opposition
In his remarks on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Brijesh Pathak accused the opposition of practicing appeasement policies.
Opposition parties claimed that the case only includes the names of lower-level employees while protecting senior employees. Asked about the charge, Pathak said the police would conduct a fair investigation and the BJP government followed a “zero tolerance” policy towards corruption.
He said: “Are you in the police or are we? The police will investigate the matter impartially.”
