UP: Dalit family offered first bhoomi pujan prasad

AYODHYA: The first ‘prasad’ of the ‘bhoomi pujan’ ceremony at Ramjanmabhoomi was offered to a Dalit family in Ayodhya on Wednesday in keeping with the Sangh’s thrust to bridge the caste divide.
The family of Mahabir Prasad, a mason by profession, was taken by surprise when volunteers of the temple trust knocked on their door with ‘prasad’ along with a copy of ‘Ram Charitmanas’ and ‘tulsi mala’ (rosary). ‘Prasad’ was distributed in Ayodhya only after it was offered to the Dalit family, confirmed sources in the temple trust.
Mahabir, a beneficiary of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana’, shot to limelight at the peak of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when chief minister Yogi Adityanath shared a meal with his family after offering prayers at Ramjanmabhoomi.
Talking to TOI, Mahavir's daughter, Sima, a postgraduate student of Ayodhya’s Saket Degree College, said, “We are fortunate to receive the first ‘prasad’ of bhoomi pujan. We were offered two boxes of prasad, a Ram Charitmanas and a rosary of basil plant.”
While Mahabir, a Dalit, received the first ‘prasad’ of Lord Ram, Babri litigant Iqbal Ansari, a Muslim, was also one of the first to receive the invite to attend the ‘bhoomi pujan’.