“Lord Ram is the god of everyone, Muslims, Christians, and others…” – Farooq Abdullah

Farooq Abdullah, the president of the National Conference, attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday for supposedly sending out invites to the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple, which is scheduled for January 22 in Ayodhya. “Does Lord Ram belong only to the BJP? Who are they to send invitations to people? Do I need an invitation to visit Umrah if I want to? Does anybody need an invite to visit the Ram temple?” Farooq Abdullah said while interacting with reporters.

Farooq Abdullah continued, saying that there was no need for an invitation for anyone who wished to attend the Ram temple. The leader of the National Conference had previously expressed joy over the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, stating that India needed to revitalise brotherhood since it was dwindling.

"Ayodhya Ram temple is about to be inaugurated. I would like to congratulate everyone who made the effort for the temple. It's ready now… I also want to say to the entire nation that Lord Rama doesn't only belong to Hindus. He belongs to everyone in the world. He is the Lord for all the people across the world. It's written in the books," Abdullah had earlier said.

“Ram is everyone’s Lord” – Farooq Abdullah

Asserting that Lord Ram was not just the God of Hindus but everyone, Farooq Abdullah said, “Lord Ram is the god of everyone, Muslims, Christians, and others. Similarly, Allah is also everyone's God, not just of Muslims.” “A very prominent writer from Pakistan, who passed away recently, wrote that Ram was also sent by Allah to show the right path to the people. So, those who say that we are the only devotees of Ram, are fools. They only want to sell Ram, they don't have any affection for him…” he added.

People from all walks of life have been invited to the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Prominent citizens, legislators, businessmen, and others were on the invitation list. Earlier on Friday, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India Adar Poonawalla confirmed that he was invited to attend the ‘pran-pratishtha’ ceremony.

In a post on X Adar Poonawalla wrote, “I am humbled to receive the invitation to the Prabhu Shri Ram Lalla Mandir at Ayodhya through senior RSS functionaries like Shri. @Manojpochat, Pracharak Shri. Kedar Kulkarni & Shri. Prasad Lawalekar. Wholeheartedly I have accepted the invitation and it will be an honour to visit the Shri. Ram Mandir soon.”

The offer to attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony had been extended to many, including prominent Congressmen Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, athletes Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, and businessmen Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, and TS Kalyanaraman.

But Sonia Gandhi, Kharge, Lalu Prasad Yadav, and a number of other opposition figures had chosen not to attend the major ceremony, referring to it as a "political event" organised by the BJP.

By: Gursharan Kaur