Poet and writer Uday Prakash Singh, who was one of the members of the ‘Award Wapsi’ gang, surprised everyone by pulling off the most historic u-turn in modern political history, well, at least close to one, by offering donations for the construction of Ram Mandir at Ran Janmabhoomi, Ayodhya.
According to the reports, Uday Prakash Singh wrote on his Facebook post that he had made donations for the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. He also posted the receipt of donations that showed that the poet had donated Rs 5,400 for the temple construction.
It is pertinent to note that Uday Prakash Singh rose to popularity after he had returned his Sahitya academy award in 2015 to protest against the murder of Kannada writer MM Kalburgi. Uday Prakash, who hails from Sitapur village in Madhya Pradesh, taught at controversial Jawaharlal University and has also worked with Hindi daily Dinman as a sub-editor.
As Uday Prakash put out a Facebook post sharing news about his donations, many social media users expressed shock. Some of the social media users aligning to the left-wing ideology claimed that his account had been hacked and in no way Uday Prakash would donate to Ram Mandir’s construction. However, Uday Prakash himself clarified on Facebook, appealing to his fans and followers not to look everything in the prism of politics.
He also reportedly said one should not object to such donations and added that everyone was contributing for Ram temple due to their faith.
Liberal social media users, Islamists attack Uday Prakash
Several left-wing social media, who were once hailing Uday Prakash for returning his award during the alleged killing of left-wing writer MM Kalburgi, flooded his timeline on Friday to attack him over his donations to Ram Mandir construction.
Here are some of the comments put out by several users targeting Uday Prakash:
One social media user Jagdeep Singh said, “It is sad to see many progressives turning senile. It is your personal issue and you are free to choose. This also shows how person change according to the situation. Your writing has to be seen separately from your personality.”
Another user Sheshnath Pandey lamented that nothing is going well currently and said that he would politely disagree with him.
Abbas Pathan also expressed his anger saying it was shameful of Uday Prakash to donate money for the temple construction. He said instead of a donation, the poet should have asked the Ram Mandir trust regarding the donations it has already received, and he also demanded them to show the map of the building that will cost Rs 5,000 crores.
Shadab Anand attacked Uday Prakash saying that a large section of Hindi literature has always been communal, however, they mistook them for being progressive.
Another ‘secular’ Muslim users said that Uday Prakash’s decision to donate was nothing less than an oppression of Muslims.
Donation drive
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had begun its donation collection drive from the day of Makar Sankranti on January 15. During the nation-wide campaign, the photos of the proposed new model of Shri Ramjanmbhoomi Mandir will reach the households of crores of Ram Bhakts. The trust has invited voluntary donations against which Rs.10, Rs.100, and Rs.1000 coupons will be available.
Earlier, the Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra had appealed to Hindus all over the world to donate as per their capacity for the construction of a grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and several other Hindu organizations, along with their volunteers, have been helping in the donation collection drive.
