Headlines
Lord Ram at centre of yet another BJP-SP flashpoint
By
Mohit DubeyLucknow, April 3
Lord Ram is once again at the
centre of a flashpoint between the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh.
Daggers drawn over
the past two decades on the Ram Janmabhoomi imbroglio, the two parties
are now set to fight it out on a new issue: the stopping of the Ram
Katha recital, along with the the longest-running Ram Leela show in
Ayodhya, due to paucity of funds.
The Ram Katha and Ram Leela
have been playing without a single day's recess, but for a few days in
2013, for the last 11 years. It has now been halted as the state culture
department has allegedly not issued the necessary funds. Organized by
the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan, an autonomous arm of the Uttar Pradesh
culture department, the Ram Katha and Ram Leela were stopped briefly in
2013 after the funds meant for the event were diverted to the Saifai
Mahotsava held at Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's native village.
Ironically,
the event was started on May 20, 2004, when Samajwadi Party supremo
Mulayam Singh Yadav was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. It has been
stopped since Monday, an official said, adding that it has "not been
completely done away with but temporarily halted".
Ayodhya Shodh
Sansthan manager Avinash Kumar said the Ram Katha has been put on hold.
He, however, did not ascribe any reasons, angering the Ayodhya community
of saints, who have threatened to launch an indefinite agitation if it
is not revived.
"This is not only completely unacceptable but
also a decision that hurts the sentiments of the Hindu community," said
an angry Vijay Bahadur Pathak, the state BJP spokesman, adding that the
party will take up the issue in a big way if the decision is not
reversed.
The institute gets Rs 2.73 crore every year from the
state, the funds also being utilised for activities like publishing and
research, apart from enacting the Ram Katha and the Ram Leela, which is
witnessed by hundreds of the devout every evening.
In the past,
Ram Leela has been staged in over 55 styles by some 150 troupes from all
over the country, as also from the Maldives and Indonesia. Tourists
from almost 17 countries have witnessed the play here. The feat has also
been commended by Unesco, which has termed the Ram Leela a commendable
effort to preserve an intangible heritage.
State government
officials refused to comment on the issue, saying they would have to
check back from their superiors. One official went a step further,
claiming that that state government's intention was not to do something
deliberately!
(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at [email protected])