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Modi concerned over Ram temple donation theft: Vinay Katiyarchannel24india.com
AYODHYA: Amid demands by the Opposition for public accounting of the Ram temple donations and a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the embezzlement issue, sources on Friday said a re-audit of the temple trust’s accounts will be conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
As the Opposition parties continued with their attack, senior BJP leader and former MP Vinay Katiyar said he has spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, he added, “expressed concern” over the donations theft issue.
He also said former Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai, ex-trustee Anil Mishra and temple official Gopal Rao “may have escaped going to jail for now, but may still go later”.
Sources said the SIT probing the alleged embezzlement will carry out a detailed scrutiny of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust’s financial records for an entire five-year period and the re-audit will cover construction-related expenditure as well as jewellery and other gold and silver items received as donations.
The RSS reacted for the first time to the alleged theft of funds, saying this has “deeply hurt” the faith of Ram devotees and all of society, and the SIT must ensure the guilty face severe punishment.
“We are all extremely pained and angered by this event,” RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said in a statement on X.
Asserting that “anti-Hindu and anti-national forces” are seeking to malign Hindu dharma by exploiting the “unfortunate incident”, Hosabale called on all Hindus to display necessary patience and restraint to thwart such “conspiracies”.
The Congress was quick to react, saying the “clean chit” given by the RSS is “disgraceful and shameful” and a desperate damage control aimed at sanitising it.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh dubbed the RSS as a “fraudulent outfit”, while the opposition party’s media and publicity head, Pawan Khera, said the organisation is “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”.
“The clean chit given by the RSS is disgraceful and shameful. The fact is ‘chanda chori’ on a large scale by people very much part of its network has taken place. It is a fraudulent outfit,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
Khera tagged the video statement of Hosabale on X and said it is “designed to protect the crocodiles while sacrificing a few expendable pawns”.
He said the truth is that if the RSS was sincerely committed to safeguarding devotees’ donations, “embezzlement” on such a scale would never have taken place at a temple that is directly under its own watch.
Talking to PTI, Katiyar said he had spoken to Modi but did not divulge much about his conversation.
He only said Modi expressed concern over the theft issue and sought his views on what would happen next.
“I told him everything would be fine,” Katiyar said.
Alleging financial irregularities in the functioning of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi trust, Katiyar claimed Rai, Mishra and Rao could face imprisonment in the future if found guilty.
“It is possible that in the coming days Champat Rai, Gopal Rao and Anil Mishra may have to go to jail,” he said, adding that anyone found responsible should be sent to jail.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray announced a statewide ‘Ram Raksha’ agitation from Sunday, drawing a backlash from Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane who accused him of “speaking like a Pakistani agent”.
Thackeray said his party will launch the protest at the Hanuman temple in Dadar, where protesters will recite the Hanuman Stotra and Hanuman Chalisa to pressure the BJP into taking responsibility for the alleged donation theft.
Rane retorted, saying “Uddhav Thackeray is speaking (Al Qaeda leader) Osama Bin Laden’s language. Places where Uddhav Thackeray performs ‘maha aarti’ should be ‘purified’ with ‘gomutra’ (cow urine).”
He also claimed Thackeray was “speaking like a Pakistani agent”.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh also announced that he will set out on a “non-political” padyatra or foot march from Ujjain’s Mahakal Temple to Ayodhya on October 2.
He said he will file a case and demand that the money he had donated for the Ram temple during L K Advani’s Rath Yatra be returned as the donations were misused.
The Congress also demanded a public accounting of the nearly Rs 1,400 crore collected in donations for the construction of the temple before the formation of the trust.
Congress leader Ragini Nayak questioned why the SIT report was not being made public.
“Who exactly are they trying to protect in the end? Narendra Modi took full credit for the Ram Temple, but today he remains silent on the theft of offerings… when he took the credit, he must also take responsibility. This is a betrayal of the people’s trust,” Nayak said at a press conference here.
Reiterating the party’s demands, Nayak said the trust should be dissolved immediately, its operations and financial transactions investigated under the supervision of the Supreme Court, and Modi should “break his silence” on the alleged theft of donations.
“A public accounting of the approximately Rs 1,400 crore in donations collected in the name of Ram Mandir construction before the formation of the trust should be disclosed,” the Congress spokesperson said.
AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal termed the alleged embezzlement “tip of the iceberg” and claimed there was an attempt to shield powerful people involved in the scam.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji, he also questioned the ongoing probe. Kejriwal referred to past allegations relating to land purchases for the temple, claiming that parcels of land were bought by the trust at highly inflated prices after changing hands within minutes. He also alleged that commissions were paid in construction contracts and claimed that thefts of offerings were captured on CCTV cameras on multiple occasions.
During the day, Ayodhya police questioned key accused Avinash Shukla after taking him into custody.
Shukla, who was involved in donation-counting work, was arrested earlier in the case, and a local court on Thursday granted police his custody for 24 hours.
Police sources said Shukla, from whose possession the highest cash recovery in the case has been made so far, is facing intensified legal proceedings.
The SIT has so far questioned Rai, Mishra and Rao, who has been associated with the temple’s construction and management.
Rai and Mishra have tendered their resignations from their respective posts, and the trust is expected to take a decision on them at its meeting scheduled for July 6.
The alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple came to light on June 7. An FIR was registered on June 25 on the basis of a preliminary report submitted by the SIT constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government.
Eight persons associated with the temple’s donation-counting process have been arrested so far, and the investigation is continuing.
(Source-PTI)
