Left out of Wednesday’s event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the spearhead of the temple movement L.K. Advani issued a statement on Tuesday evening welcoming the ceremony and voicing hope of “justice for all and exclusion of none”.
Advani, 92, did not mention the absence of an invite to him for an event that is the culmination of a campaign he led in the eighties and early nineties.
The BJP senior has not received “any kind” of invite for the “bhoomi-pujan”, not even to participate through videoconference, his secretary Deepak Chopra iterated on Tuesday evening.
“Sometimes significant dreams in one’s life take a long time to fruition, but when they are finally realised, the wait becomes very worthwhile,” Advani said. “I feel humbled that during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, destiny made me perform a pivotal duty in the form of the Ram Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya in 1990, which helped galvanise the aspirations, energies and passions of its countless participants,” he said.
He did not mention that the campaign had led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, one of the darkest chapters in Indian history.
In conclusion, he said: “It is also my belief that Shri Ram Mandir will represent India as a strong, prosperous, peaceful and harmonious nation with justice for all and exclusion of none so that we can truly usher in Ram Rajya, the epitome of good governance.”
