Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has said the date of Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya should be celebrated as “Pratishtha Dwadashi”, as the “true independence” of Bharat, which faced “parachakra” (enemy attack) for several centuries, was established on this day.
After India got political independence from the British on August 15, 1947, a written Constitution was made according to the path shown by that specific vision, which comes out of the “self” of the country, but the document was not run according to the spirit of the vision at that time, Bhagwat said on Monday.
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According to the Hindu calendar, the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya took place on Dwadashi of ‘Shukla Paksha’ of the Paush month last year. The date in the Gregorian calendar was January 22, 2024. This year, the Paush Shukla Paksha Dwadashi fell on January 11.
Bhagwat asserted that the Ram temple movement was not started to oppose anyone.
This movement was started to awaken the “self” (swa) of Bharat so that the country could stand on its own feet and show the path to the world, the RSS chief said.
He was speaking after presenting the ‘National Devi Ahilya Award’ to Champat Rai, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, in Indore.
Two days after the first anniversary of the consecration of the Ram Temple, the RSS chief said the date should be celebrated as “Pratishtha Dwadashi” as the true independence of India, which had faced “parachakra” (enemy attack) for several centuries, was established on this day.
Bhagwat pointed out there was no discord in the country during the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya and people witnessed the event with a “pure mind”.
The ideals and life values presented by Lord Ram, Krishna and Shiva are included in the “self of India” and it is not at all that these are the Gods of only those people who worship them, he said.
Bhagwat said the invaders destroyed temples of the country so that the “self” of India also perishes.
He said the Ram Mandir movement lasted so long because some forces did not want a temple to be built at the birthplace of Lord Ram.
The Sangh chief mentioned about a meeting with former President Pranab Mukherjee at a time when the issue of ‘Ghar Wapsi’ (return of converted people to their original religion) figured in Parliament.
“During this meeting, Mukherjee told me that the Constitution of India is the most secular Constitution in the world and in such a situation what right does the world have to teach us secularism,” Bhagwat said. — PTI
