'Attempt to conduct Ram temple ceremony will hurt PM Modi': Mani Shankar Aiyar
Narendra Modi's attempt to «personally conduct the consecration ceremony» at the Ram temple in Ayodhya will prove costly given the disapproval of the four shankaracharyas who have refused to attend the ceremony, said Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar. The former Union minister said it is beginning to show who is the «real Hindu» — one who knows the difference between 'Hinduism' and 'Hindutva'.
«Modi's attempt at being personally present and personally conducting the religious ceremony has received such strong disapproval from the four accepted seers of the Hindu religion, who constitute what you may call the pontiffs of the Hindu religion, that it is all going to turn back on him. It will bite back,» said Aiyar at the ongoing seventh edition of the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) on Friday.
Uttarakhand's Jyotir Mutt head Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati has said that none of the four shankaracharyas will attend the event in Ayodhya as the consecration ceremony will take place before construction of the temple is completed, making it «against the shastras».
Aiyar said while Hinduism is the most ancient religion in India practised by a majority of people in the country, Hindutva is a political philosophy dealing with Hindu majoritarianism.
«Most Hindus, at least 50 per cent of them, have never voted for Hindutva. It is our way of conducting elections that has resulted in Hindutva power in the last 10 years,» claimed Aiyar, adding that, unlike some people, he is not ready to write off the 2024 general elections.
