Amid allegations of corruption in the Ayodhya land deal, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust treasurer Swami Govind Dev Giri has released a press statement in which he has strongly refuted the accusations levelled against the trust. He says that by spreading such rumours, some people, who identify themselves as political or religious figures, are maliciously trying to create hurdles as they do not want the Ram temple to come up in Ayodhya.
श्री रामजन्मभूमि तीर्थ क्षेत्र न्यास के माननीय कोषाध्यक्ष स्वामी श्री गोविंद देव गिरी जी का प्रेस वक्तव्य
— Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra (@ShriRamTeerth) July 2, 2021
Press Statement of Shri Govind Dev Giriji Maharaj, Treasurer of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. pic.twitter.com/1A2JdoB9wC
The Trust treasurer Swami Govind Dev Giri says that for the past 15-20 days, some people through various media houses have been levelling allegations of irregularities in the land deals in Ayodhya.
The land surrounding the temple land has been acquired for several reasons, including Vaastu considerations and building facilities for pilgrims keeping in mind the large turnout once the construction of the grand temple is completed and set open for darshan, says Giri.
He adds that for the last three days he along with various lawyers and chartered accountants have scrutinised all the papers of the land purchase deal and found no lapses in the land purchase deals.
Giri assured that all the land was purchased at a price less than the market rate and the money transactions were clean and were carried out legally through banks. “If those people who have levelled allegations can help us in getting cheaper land at the same location, the Trust would be obliged to them,” he said.
The trust treasurer, in his press note, takes strong objection to the rumours that are being spread to malign the trust. He says some vindictive members of the opposition are trying to mislead the devotees and merely trying to create roadblocks in the construction of the Ram Mandir by spreading such unfounded rumours.
“I want to assure everyone that the work on Shri Ram temple will continue with full honesty and transparency,” he added.
The Land deal struck by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra
It is pertinent to note here that while the Supreme Court had given the ‘disputed land’ to the trust, land surrounding the Ram Janmabhoomi is owned by various individuals and entities and thus, has to be acquired privately by Temple trust to build facilities that would help the devotees which are expected to visit the temple once it opens.
For this reason, in March 2021, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra through its General Secretary Champat Rai executed an Agreement to buy an additional piece of land for the purposes of additional construction to facilitate pilgrims who would be travelling to the Ram Temple. 1.208 Ha land was decided to be purchased by the Trust at Rs 18.5 Cr. from one Sultan Ansari and one Ravi Mohan Tiwari. Ansari and the others had in turn bought the same land at just Rs 2 crore from one Kusum Pathak.
The controversy created by AAP, further peddled by SP and Congress
A controversy erupted after Aam Aadmi Party had used the sale deed of the earlier transaction between Ansari and Kusum and the Agreement to Sell between Ansari and the Trust to allege a “scam” in the procurement of this land by the temple trust. Aam Aadmi Party’s leader Sanjay Singh alleged that Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra through its General Secretary Champat Rai bought a piece of land at an exponentially higher price.
Samajwadi Party’s Pawan Pandey had also made similar allegations.
On expected lines, the Congress scion Rahul Gandhi also jumped on to the bandwagon, perpetuating the same litany of lies peddled by the AAP. He took to Twitter to trend the hashtag “Ram Mandir Ghotala” and write that Lord Ram personifies justice and to perpetuate a scam in his name is ‘Adharma’.
Even Congress tweeted alleging “scam”.
OpIndia busts the lie peddled by AAP, SP and Congress regarding the alleged ‘scam’
On June 14, OpIndia had, based on facts of the case and documents acquired by us, published a detailed report, bringing to the fore the truth about the land deal by Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra.
Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust issues clarification on the land deal
On June 15, the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust also issued a detailed clarification on the entire land deal. Detailing all the land deals made by the trust, they brushed off all the baseless allegations levelled against them by the opposition parties, thus evincing how petty hate can make one
