
LUCKNOW: With the rituals towards the consecration of Lord Ram in sanctum sanctorum of the upcoming temple already underway and the final ceremony being just four days away, two public interest litigations (PILs) have been filed before the Allahabad High Court related to the event scheduled for January 22.
The first PIL, filed by Bhola Das of Ghaziabad district, seeks the court’s direction to prohibit Prime Minister of India and UP CM to participate in Pran-Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22, 2024 till the conclusion of parliamentary election 2024. It also seeks the court to put the rider on both the PM and UP CM till the consent of all Sanatan Dharm Guru Shankaracharyas comes in the interest of justice.
In the PIL, the petitioner has made Union of India, Prime Minister of India, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, State of UP as well as four Shankaracharyas party as respondents. Still to be admitted by the court, the PIL alleges that the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) is misusing the power and destroying the Sanatan culture in the political interest of party ahead for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.
The petitioner contends that the Sanatan Hindu Dharamguru Shankaracharya Swami Nischala Nand Saraswati and Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand are also against the involvement of Prime minister in the said event. The petitioner has also sought ban on the ongoing consecration ceremony on the ground that the temple is still under construction and the consecration of deity could not take place as it would be against the tenets of Sanatana tradition. Besides, he has also taken the plea that as per Hindu calendar, no religious and auspicious events should be take place in the month of Paush.
Meanwhile, the second PIL has been filed by All India Lawyers Union (AILU), challenging the circular issued by the UP’s chief secretary, dated December 21, 2023, directing all district authorities to organise Ramkatha, Ramayana recitations and bhajan-kirtan in Ram, Hanuman and Valmiki temples across the state besides taking out Kalash Yatras from January 14 to 22. The district tourism and culture councils are responsible for paying for these events, contends the PIL.
In the PIL, state president of AILU-UP, Narottam Shukla, has alleged that to organize the events about Rs 590 lakhs have been released from the state fund.
According to the petition, the aforesaid directive of the state government was against the basic tenets of the Indian Constitution, which is based on
principles of secularism that provides for keeping religion separate from politics and the state. According to the petitioner, the state should remain neutral in respect of any religious ceremony. The two PILs will come up for hearing before the court in due course.
By Namita Bajpai