Ram Temple Fund Rallies Caused Communal Violence, Property Destruction, Loss Of Lives: Rights Groups, Religious Leaders Urge PM To Stop ‘Coercive’ Collection

Civil society groups and leaders of prominent religious organizations have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding immediate action to stop ‘coercion’ in the fund collection drive across the country for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The letter states that the collection drives have disturbed law and order, resulted in communal violence, caused massive destruction of public and private property, and loss of innocent human lives. 

“In many sensitive areas the element of coercion by the fund collectors has all the ingredients of creating a breakdown of law and order and social harmony. The drive for Fund Collection in Madhya Pradesh resulted in communal violence on a large scale,” the letter stated. “It seems that more than the fund collection, the objective is to polarize the society on communal grounds.”

“A video went viral on social media in which the two men could be seen making highly objectionable remarks against the Muslim community during a motorcycle rally to collect funds for the Ram Temple,” they noted, adding that the rally was organised by VHP. 

“Three days ago, three persons were injured in a clash between two community members in Gujarat’s Kutch district during a rally for the Collection of Funds for the Ram Temple.  Minister for Food & Civil Supplies, K. Gopalaiah together with MLA Preetham Gowda and other BJP workers, went door to door to raise donations at Beerahnahalli, Shivamogga, Karnataka forgetting their constitutional obligations,” they added. 

The concerned citizens who penned the letter, include, Mr. Naved Hamid President of All India Muslim Majlis Mushawarat, Maulana Wali Rahmani head of Imarat-e-Shariah Bihar, Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan President of Ittehad-e-Millat Council, Mr. Syed Sadatullah Husaini President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Moulana Asghar Imam Mehdi head of Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadees, Dr. Manzoor Alam, chairman of IOS,  Dr. Zafar Ul Islam Khan former Chairman of Minority Commission, Delhi, Mr. Ravi Nair, Executive Director of South Asia Human Rights  Documentation Centre,  Prof. Ram Puniyani,  Prof. Apoorvanand of Delhi University,  Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani Secretary of AIMPLB, Maulana Mohsin Taqwi Khateeb of Shia, Jama Masjid, Delhi, Mufti Abdur Raziq President of Jamiatul Ulama, Mrs. Kavita Shrivastava of PUCL, Engineer Mohammad Saleem General Secretary of FDCA, Mr. Dankesh Oza, RTI activist, Gujarat, Mr. Sawai Singh, activist  Rajasthan and Mr. Ambarish Rai, educationist.