Hindu men celebrating the Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan in Ayodhya on 5 August 2020 (representational image) | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
Hindu men celebrating the Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan in Ayodhya on 5 August 2020 (representational image) | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
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New Delhi: The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has decided to felicitate lakhs of ‘Ram bhakts’ or kar sevaks who took part in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the 1980s and 1990s.

Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted the bhoomi pujan for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the VHP has now decided to organise an utsav (celebration) in 4 lakh villages.

“We will organise these programmes in 4 lakh villages and will have the participation of all Ram bhakts who were part of the movement. Our aim is to reach out to around 10 crore people,” Vinod Bansal, national spokesperson of the VHP, told ThePrint.

“We will highlight the entire journey which finally culminated in the bhoomi pujan. At the same time, voluntary donations will also be sought from the public,” he said, adding that in 1989, the VHP had carried out ‘shila pujan’ for the Ram Mandir in around 2.75 lakh villages.

Distributed prasad, especially to SC/STs

Another VHP leader told ThePrint that the Hindu organisation had distributed the prasad from the bhoomi pujan in numerous villages across the country, and “special care was taken to ensure people from the SC/ST community also received it”.

“As far as seeking voluntary donations is concerned, we will also inform the public regarding the accounts of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust. They will be asked to either call or email the trust after making their contribution so that a receipt can be issued to them. This will be a way of connecting the trust with the public too,” said the leader, who did not wish to be named.

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The VHP will celebrate its foundation day or sthapana diwas Tuesday, and carry out a host of activities all week.

“During this week, we will organise programmes at 20,000 places. The work that has been done by us so far, our achievements, future plans and programmes, the challenges faced by the Hindu community — such as religious conversion, love jihad and cow slaughter — will be highlighted. At the same time, we will also focus on boycotting Chinese goods,” said another VHP functionary.

 

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