While hundreds of dignitaries and people from all walks of life are eagerly awaiting to witness history in the making on January 22, when Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir’s Pran Pratishtha is set to take place, the Congress party has declared that it would skip the massive inauguration ceremony.
On January 11, Thursday, the grand old party said its leaders, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, his predecessor Sonia Gandhi, and the party’s Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who received the invitation, declined it, citing it as a ‘political project’ of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
“Religion is a personal matter”, said senior party leader Jairam Ramesh in a statement, as he defended Congress’ choice to abstain from the inauguration ceremony of the Bhavya Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, which not only signifies a victory for Sanatan Dharma and a symbol of Hindu awakening and the restoration of pride but also a reminder of the tenacity of our ancestors who refused to bow down to the relentless, brutal Islamic onslaught during the Middle Ages.
“Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya. The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain,” read a statement from senior party leader Jairam Ramesh.
Here is the statement of Shri @Jairam_Ramesh, General Secretary (Communications), Indian National Congress. pic.twitter.com/JcKIEk3afy
— Congress (@INCIndia) January 10, 2024
“While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event,” he added.
Soon after the official statement by Congress, BJP condemned the party’s decision accusing it of being anti-Hindu.
Well, despite the party’s best efforts to turn the incident into a political football by accusing the ruling party of being responsible for its decision to skip the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha event, the fact remains that the Congress party has never shied away from displaying its anti-Hindu policies and unabashed Muslim appeasement.
It’s hilarious how, only during the election season, Rahul Gandhi, through his actions and his party’s policies, appears to wear Hinduism on his sleeves. As the elections come closer, posters of Rahul Gandhi depicting as a Hindu God are put up to entice Hindu voters and his Temple-runs around election time are organised to give an impression that he is a practising Hindu but as the election season subsides, Congress party and its president Rahul Gandhi relapse to their modus operandi of indulging in unabashed minority appeasement and anti-Hindu activities.
And when it comes to the Ram Mandir, Congress has always been against the very ideals laid down by Lord Rama himself and his established Dharma. So intense is their hatred for Lord Rama that the drawings of Lord Hanuman, Lord Rama’s chief disciple were branded as communal and unacceptable by the Congress ecosystem. Add to this, Rahul Gandhi’s proclamation that building the Ram Temple is a non-issue for his party in the last elections.
But what can be expected from a party which once questioned the existence of Lord Ram?
Congress’s anti-Hindu sentiments, in fact, have a long and distinguished history. It was Congress that moved heaven and earth to concoct the “Saffron Terror” narrative by falsely implicating Sadhvi Pragya and even Lt Col Purohit. It was Congress which wanted to pass the Communal Violence Bill which basically ensured that only Hindus would be considered perpetrators and never a Muslim, should there be any communal violence. The bill was formed by people who were associated with various foreign-funded NGOs.
Furthermore, it was former Congress president and Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi who declared mythical “saffron terror” as being more dangerous than LeT. It was P Chidambaram and Sushil Kumar Shinde who called Hindus terrorists with no proof or reason. It was Manmohan Singh who said Muslims have the first right to our country’s resources.
Today, let’s briefly reminisce about the umpteen statements and incidents where Congress and its leaders, from time immemorial, have been snubbing Hindus and their religion.
Jawaharlal Nehru’s opposition to the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple
The final tragic destruction of the Somnath Temple occurred in 1665 CE when it was converted into a mosque on the instructions of Aurangzeb. The temple was abandoned for over three centuries, only surfacing occasionally in ancient British photographs and paintings.
On November 12, 1947, on the auspicious day of Diwali, Sardar Patel paid a visit to the temple and urged it to be restored to its former glory. Suddenly, the atmosphere became pregnant with the orgasmic cries of Jai Somnath. KM Munshi, then a minister, took an active interest and ensured that the project saw the light of the day. Nehru, as usual, lodged a vehement opposition, dubbing it a sign of ‘Hindu Revivalism’.
After the reconstruction was complete, KM Munshi invited the then President Dr Rajendra Prasad to the inauguration of the Somnath temple. Nehru did not like the idea of the president visiting Somnath temple for inauguration in 1951.
Nehru wrote a letter to Rajendra Prasad expressing his views on the matter. “I confess that I do not like the idea of your associating yourself with a spectacular opening of the Somnath Temple. This is not merely visiting a temple, which can certainly be done by you or anyone else but rather participating in a significant function which unfortunately has a number of implications,” Nehru has been quoted in various reports as having written in his letter.
However, Rajendra Prasad disregarded Nehru’s objections and decided to attend the ceremony in May, 1951.
Shah Bano Case: When Rajiv Gandhi overturned SC judgement protecting Muslim women’s right to maintenance during talaq
In 1986, the Indian state headed by Rajiv Gandhi set a dangerous precedent of catapulting to Muslim hardliners. The Mohd. Ahmad Khan vs. Shah Bano Begum & Others case and the subsequent legislation passed by the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1986 is often remembered as a pivotal moment in India’s political history.
It all started when Shah Bano, the 62-year-old Muslim woman, filed a petition in court in April 1978 demanding maintenance from her divorced husband Mohammed Ahmad Khan, a renowned lawyer in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Shah Bano’s husband Khan divorced her by uttering triple talaq later in November stating he was not obliged to pay her any maintenance as she is not his wife under Islamic law.
In April 1985, in a historic judgment, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Shah Bano and upheld the decision by the High Court stating that she was entitled to be paid for maintenance by her husband.
The Muslim hardliners, clerics pushed the then Rajiv Gandhi government, elected in 1984, to pass the Muslim Women (Protection on Divorce Act), 1986. This law overturned the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Shah Bano case. The 1986 Muslim Women (Protection on Rights of Divorce) Act diluted the Supreme Court judgment and allowed maintenance to a divorced woman only during the period of iddat, or till 90 days after the divorce.
The Muslim Women Act in 1986, virtually pitted women’s individual rights against the rights of a religious group and the latter with their street veto power were capable of enforcing the law will over a weak, minority-appeasing government led by Rajiv Gandhi.
Most importantly, it took 33 years to correct the historic blunders made by the Rajiv Gandhi government. In 2019, the Narendra Modi government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 in the Parliament of India criminalising triple talaq and delivering justice to several crores of deserted Muslim women just like Shah Bano.
Congress leaders mocking Ram Mandir, insulting Lord Rama
It is to be recalled how Congress leaders and its allies have refused to believe in the existence of Lord Rama and mocked the construction of the Ram temple. Recently, DMK leader TKS Elangovan described Lord Rama’s birth as ‘mythology’ and alleged that the BJP was trying to replace history with mythology.
“They have demolished history and replaced it with mythology. Any country should be proud of its history, it should know the history. Ram’s birth is mythology, it is a story from Ramayana. It is literature. They want to replace history with mythology. That is what the BJP is trying to do. With these people in power, what can we expect?… He wants to make use of it as a political tool. He is not interested in Ram. BJP does not consider Ram as an important thing but their political gain becomes important so they are making use of Ram for their political gains,” the leader was quoted as saying.
Also, in June 2023, Rahul Gandhi’s ‘mentor’ Sam Pitroda mocked the Hindu deities while accusing the BJP of focusing only on religious matters. “We have a problem with unemployment, inflation, education, health. No one talks about these things. But everyone talks about Ram, Hanuman, mandir,” he had said during an event hosted by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The video of the incident had massively gone viral over the internet then.
Sam Pitroda insulting Ram Mandir and Hinduism at Rahul Gandhi's US event.
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) June 5, 2023
Rahul kept silent. pic.twitter.com/uw7QwZWEUp
Further, Kapil Sibal who was earlier a member of Congress had appeared for the Sunni Waqf Board and Babri Masjid Action Committee in the Supreme Court to term the case as a ‘trap’ laid by the BJP. “This judgment is going to have huge political ramifications. A party is pushing its manifesto. The court should not fall into a trap. This is nothing but a trap,” he had said in the year 2017. Sibal was then slammed by the netizens for the choice of his clients and the stance taken by him.
Sibal had been accusing the BJP of using the Ram Mandir issue for its political gains. He recently reiterated his stance saying that ‘no one becomes Ram by building Ram Mandir. People must learn to walk on the path of Ram.”
In the year 2018, Congress leader P Chidambaram mocked the idea of a Ram temple in Ayodhya and said that BJP was only focusing on building temples and giant statues. “At the beginning of five years, the promise is for Development, Jobs, and Money in every citizen’s bank account. Nothing was achieved, but at the end of five years, the new promise was for grand temples, giant statues, and doles,” he was quoted as saying. The BJP then slammed the leader for playing with the sentiments of Hindus.
As if denying the reality of Lord Ram wasn’t enough, the grand old party of India in 2022 came up with fresh ways to ridicule Hinduism. The leaders compared Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to Lord Rama as the former embarked on his political stunt called ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
Further, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President K Sudhakaran also ridiculed Bhagwan Sri Ram, Sri Lakshman, and Sita Mata by distorting Ramayana. He stated in a recent video interview with The New Indian Express (TNIE) that while returning from Lanka on the Pushpaka Vimanam, after defeating Ravana, Lakshman briefly entertained the thought of pushing his brother, Lord Ram, into the sea and going away with his wife Sita.
In 2020, ahead of Ayodhya Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan on August 5, Zee News conducted a discussion on Ayodhya and Ram Mandir. In a shocking display of ignorance, Congress leader Kumar Ketkar denied the historical existence of Shri Ram and cast aspersions about the Hindu God being a creation of literature.
In September 2007, the Central government run by Congress-led UPA 1 had said that there is no historical proof of Lord Ram’s existence.
An affidavit filed by the Congress-led government read, “Valmiki Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas admittedly form an important part of ancient Indian literature, but these cannot be said to be historical records to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters and occurrences of events depicted therein.” The affidavit was filed to register the UPA government’s opposition to the demand to scrap the Sethusamudram project as it would damage the Ram Setu.
Senior Congress leader of the time, Kapil Sibal fought the Ram Janmabhoomi case for the Sunni Waqf Board opposing the building of a magnificent Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. He also employed dilatory tactics and asked the apex court to delay the decision in the Ram Janmabhoomi case till the 2019 elections. Another eminent Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had earlier claimed that no ‘good Hindu’ would want a Ram Mandir at Babri site. Tharoor urged that one should have the Ram Mandir in one’s heart.
Instances of the Congress leaders openly peddling the ‘Saffron Terror’ narrative
Most famously, a Wikileaks tape dating back to 2009 recorded former US ambassador to India – Timothy Roemer recounting how Rahul Gandhi in a conversation with him claimed that radicalised Hindu groups were a bigger threat than the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Besides Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leaders too have made similar allegations.
In 2013, the then Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde claimed that BJP and the RSS were spreading “Hindu terrorism” via their “training camps”. He also alleged that Hindus were behind Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid blast which now has been proven to be a lie.
In 2010, erstwhile Home Minister P Chidambaram “cautioned” law enforcement authorities with regards to “the recently uncovered phenomenon of saffron terror”.
Even controversial Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has been quoted in 2013 as questioning as to why did all the “Hindu terrorists” have RSS links. He though had a change of heart two years later when he objected to the use of the term saffron terror.
Besides this Hindu terror bogey, was the infamous communal violence bill which the Congress-led UPA government wanted to enact. In a nutshell, the communal violence bill in itself was considered communal by many, with it stipulating that only religious or linguistic minorities could be labelled as victims of communal violence. How would the party explain this, while opting for a pro-Hindu push?
All this is apart from the noise made by the state-level leadership of the Congress, which included Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah asking for the opinion of district heads regarding the withdrawal of cases lodged against minorities. After public furore, he decided to take a U-turn. Just to mention, he also had signalled his intention to play by the “old rules”, when he called BJP and Congress Hindutva terrorists.
Over the years, what became evident was how Congress was using the “soft Hindutva publicly, minority appeasement privately, and caste divide covertly” tactic to try and keep all factions happy. We have seen their divisive tactics since time immemorial. From their unholy support to people like Jignesh Mevai and Hardik Patel to their tacit silence during Koregaon violence to their direct involvement in the Padmaavat row, and beyond.
While Congress tries to publicly appease Hindus, it has time and again jammed a dagger in the Hindu back by dividing them on the basis of caste.
Congress leaders discrediting the genocide of Hindus
In 2022, the unexpected success of Vivek Agnitori’s The Kashmir Files, a film based on the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus has completely thrown all the so-called leftist liberals and Islamist apologists off balance, including the grand old Congress party that has officially stepped in to defend the Islamists who carried it out.
At first, the Congress Kerala tried to blame the BJP for the genocide, then the party’s media head in Chhattisgarh effectively exonerated the Islamists who carried it out, and now its senior leader Jairam Ramesh has gone on to not only dismiss the veracity of the Kashmiri Hindus genocide but also cast aspersions on the film-makers’ sincere efforts to expose the unspoken and harsh truth about the Islamic terror in the valley in the 1990s that forced thousands of Kashmiri Pandits to flee their homeland.
It’s not at all surprising that the Congress party despises Hindus. It’s been around for a while, always kept well under wraps. It was only after Narendra Modi took office as prime minister of the nation in 2014, that all the pretences were abandoned and the Congress’ animosity for Hindus came out in the open. Be it the brazen use of the gau-mutra jibe to deride Hindus or openly passing anti-Hindu remarks to the unabashed display of their pro-Muslim moorings, the list of Congress’ treachery concerning Hindus is rather endless and the above-mentioned instances are just a few examples to highlight Congress’ anti-Hindu leanings.
