Beyond Religious Lines, People in This Bengal Village Have Come Forward to Build Ram Sita Mandir

Kolkata: As a symbol of communal harmony, people from across faiths in this West Bengal village have come forward for the construction of a Ram Sita temple.

The temple, in Burdwan district, will be inaugurated on Ram Navami in April. Though the construction of the temple is complete, the Trinamool Congress government is waiting for the auspicious occasion to inaugurate it.

The temple is being looked upon as a symbol of peace as people from across religions, including Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, came forward to build this temple.

Some of them have contributed in cash, while some sponsored the construction material for the temple. The idols have been brought from Jaipur.

“This planning started in December 2018. All communities are happy. We have temples and mosques but there is no Ram Sita Mandir. So we thought to construct one,” said Nirmala Murmu, Haripur Panchayat Pradhan.

At a time when the dispute over Ayodhya has rocked national politics, the people of this village have shown the spirit of communal harmony.

“For the convenience of the devotees in our village, we thought of building this Ram temple,” said Ahmed Waris, a resident of the village.

“We did not have a Ram temple in this locality and we feel nice that everyone came forward to help us,” says another Srimati Devi.

While the BJP is terming it as TMC’s way of playing the Hindutva card, members of the Mamata Banerjee-led party say it is their way of propagating peace in the state.

“The people together built this temple. Those in power should inspire people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not do the needful. Mamata Banerjee embraces all communities and hence there is peace in Bengal,” said Jitendra Tiwari, Mayor Asansol Municipal Corporation.

The BJP started a trend of Ram Navami processions in West Bengal in recent years, which the TMC government looked at as a way to disrupt peace. The battle of words between the two parties led to riots in parts of the state during Ram Navami processions in 2018, including in Asansol.

An imam of a mosque, who lost his 16-year-old son in clashes, appealed for peace at a time when Asansol was gripped in communal tension. This temple 20 km away from the riot-hit area is a harbinger of peace.