JAMMU: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday sparked a debate on the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, questioning whether Lord Ram is confined to one temple.
Speaking to reporters here, he also asked if Shri Ram belonged exclusively to the BJP or RSS, asserting that "nobody is the custodian of Ram".
"Is Lord Ram residing only in one temple? Isn't Ram having any other home (temple)? Are other Ram temples useless ones? Ram is omnipresent. He is also there where there is no Ram temple. He is the Ram of the entire universe," Abdullah told reporters here.
He said Shri Ram does not belong to one sect and it is wrong to portray him only as a 'Hindu'.
Responding to invitations extended by political entities for the temple opening on January 22, Abdullah questioned the exclusivity of Shri Ram.
"Is Ram of the BJP only? Does Ram belong to only the RSS? Who are they to invite anyone? Why do you need an invitation to go to a temple?" the former chief minister asked
"If I am going for an Umrah, shall I expect an invite from there? The invitation process is wrong. Nobody is the custodian of Ram," he added.