Ayodhya ‘bhoomi poojan’: Vishwa Hindu Parishad reaches out to Dalits for soil collection

New Delhi: Continuing with its Dalit outreach efforts, VHP on Thursday said soil from major Valmiki temples, including from places such as Nagpur where Babasaheb Ambedkar converted to Buddhism and his birthplace Mhow, will be sent for the ‘bhoomi poojan’ in Ayodhya.

Other places important to the community such as Sant Ravidas temple in Kashi, Tantya Bhil temple in Madhya Pradesh, Maharshi Valmiki Ashram in Sitamadhi and Valmiki Ashram in central Delhi, where Mahatma Gandhi spent over a month, have also sent soil to Ayodhya through VHP.

VHP central secretary general Milind Parande said Lord Ram gave the message of social harmony and empowerment through his own life and the temple in Ayodhya “will showcase the togetherness of the whole of Bharat”.

VHP spokesman Vinod Bansal recalled the foundation stone of Ram Janmabhoomi was laid in 1989 by the Dalit karsevak Kameshwar Chaupal, who is now a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust. “The SC community is an integral part of the Hindu society… This community has resisted conversions and fought the most to save cows,” he told ET.

Experts said it was part of the Sangh Parivar’s Samajik Samarasta (social inclusion) programme to ensure Dalits are not ignored in the mass Hindutva campaign and they remain part of the Hindu fold.