Rajya Sabha MP and former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijaya Singh has donated Rs 1,11,111 towards construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
He has sent out a cheque of the donation amount to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with a letter asking him to ensure that the fund collection drive for the temple is held in an harmonious atmosphere.
Singh referred to the three communal incidents in Madhya Pradesh, reported earlier this month, in the letter. He wrote that carrying weapons and raising inflammatory slogans targeting a particular community while being on fund-collection drive for the temple could not be part of a religious ritual or process, let alone the Sanatan dharma.
“There have been three unpleasant incidents reported in MP that have damaged the social fabric. There have been reports of similar incidents from other states too. You are the PM of the country. You know well that people of other religions have no objection to construction of Ram Temple. It is your responsibility to ensure that the fund collection drive is held in harmonious atmosphere. You should immediately stop such organizations that are carrying weapons and raising inflammatory slogans while collecting donations. You should direct all the state governments to ensure that such unpleasant incidents do not happen in their states,” Singh said in the letter.
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‘Ask VHP to make public previous donation accounts’
Singh has also urged the PM to make the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which he said had collected donations earlier for Ram Temple construction, to make its accounts public.
Singh has made out his donation cheque in the name of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and said in his letter to PM that since he did not know which bank account the amount should be deposited to, he would urge the PM to get it deposited in the relevant bank account.
Singh has often been a target of right-wing organisations and even BJP for being ‘anti-Hindu’ for his statements and stand. In his letter to the PM, Singh has also mentioned that religion was a matter of private faith and since display of level of religiosity could take one towards conceit, he (Singh) did not believe in making public the way he practised his religion.
He further said despite having Lord Ram in each cell of his body, he never mixed religion with politics and this gives him peace and ensures that his religion did not get traded.
“I have never used Lord Ram for politics and never will. I also do not link Lord Ram to nationalism as Mahatma Gandhi had said ‘religion is no test of nationality but a personal matter between man and his God’,” Singh said in his letter.
He added that he too felt that despite opposing the fact that the Ram Temple trust did not include any of the prominent Shankaracharyas, he also wanted the Ram Temple construction to be completed soon and therefore was sending out his contribution.
