Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Saturday described the alleged misappropriation of donations to the Ram temple in Ayodhya as the “largest ever looting of a shrine in India” and questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was silent on the issue.
Speaking to reporters outside the Guruvayur temple here, Venugopal said that the Congress will seek an answer from the Prime Minister in the next Parliament session on the issue.
“We are raising this issue and will continue to raise this issue across the country. This looting has affected millions of believers in the country. But the Prime Minister and the Home Minister are silent on it. Only the Special Investigation Committee of Uttar Pradesh Police has been formed and the intention behind it is to rescue the actual culprits,” he added.
He claimed that only the investigation monitored by the Supreme Court would reveal the actual culprits behind the stolen items.
Sangh Parivar organizations like VHP and RSS have been taking donations from devotees for the past 20 to 25 years in the name of the temple and it is this money and gold that was looted, Venugopal said.
This was allegedly done with the knowledge of temple officials who were appointed under the supervision of the Chief Minister.
The Congress leader further alleged that the BJP and RSS are “not true believers”.
He added: “They are only interested in plundering in the name of Hindus and dividing people for votes. This is not just plunder, but an assault on the faith of religious people.”
He further said that this was not a political issue for the Congress, unlike the BJP and the RSS who “used the gods for their own political purposes”.
Venugopal also questioned the reason for the BJP’s silence in Kerala and claimed that it indicates their desire to protect the actual perpetrators.
He also claimed that similar allegations of looting have been reported in connection with Badrinath and Kedarnath temples.
