India

‘Ram Janmabhoomi’ Trust head COVID positive, had shared stage with Modi

Srinagar: Ram Janmabhoomi trust head Nritya Gopal Das, who shared the stage with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi for temple ceremony, last week, has tested positive for the novel Coronavirus.

On August 5, during the ceremony, Das was seen on the sage leading the ceremony in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier on July 30, the Priest of the trust tested corona positive, along with 16 cops who are engaged in the protection of the place.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the Ram Temple on August 5, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, president, Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has said. The Temple Trust had proposed August 5 as ‘auspicious’ date for Ram Mandir groundbreaking ceremony.

BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya termed August 5 as a ‘historic day’ by stating that on this day foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, will be laid and it also marks the first anniversary of the scrapping of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.

August 5 marks the anniversary of the removal of Article 370 by Government of India.

The Parliament of India had in August last year adopted a resolution to abrogate Article 370, and passed a Bill to bifurcate the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, controlled directly by the Government of India.

Article 370 granted Jammu and Kashmir autonomy, and its scrapping was done as all Kashmiri political representatives were kept under detention, communication in Kashmir was blacked out, and thousands were imprisoned.

The removal of Article 370 has made concrete the fears of demographic change in the Muslim majority region of Kashmir, as laws regarding land ownership and citizenship have been changed by the Government of India controlled administration.

On 6 December 1992, a large group of Hindu extremists belonging to the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations demolished the Babri mosque, triggering violent clashes all over the Indian subcontinent, killing around 2,000 people. Hindu extremist groups claim that the site belongs to them, and is the birthplace of Hindu God Ram.

Last year in November, the Supreme Court of India had directed the Government to hand over the disputed site at Ayodhya for the construction of a temple and set up a trust for the same.

The apex court had further directed the government to give a ‘suitable land measuring five acres’ to the Muslim body, Sunni Waqf Board at a different location.

On July 20, at least four BJP workers part of a delegation that met the former Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu during his Kupwara visit on July 18, tested COVID positive.

LG Murmu had visited district Kupwara to take stock of the developmental activities there.

On July 14, BJP Party chief for Jammu and Kashmir, Ravinder Raina was found positive for the novel coronavirus, following which he was shifted to Narayana hospital in Katra for the treatment.

In Bihar state, a day later, when the state government decided to implement a complete lockdown, at least 75 BJP leaders and staff members at the party headquarters, were found coronavirus positive.

 

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