New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), several of whose leaders have been accused by the victims of the Northeast Delhi riots of pinstigating violence in February 2020, has decided to undertake a rath yatra in Delhi, covering some of the riot-affected areas, to collect donations for the Ram temple being constructed in Ayodhya.
The yatra, which has been planned by North East Delhi MP and former Delhi unit president of BJP Manoj Tiwari, will begin on February 1. For the rally, a nine-seater van will be modified into a rath or chariot. It would bear the images of Lord Ram, the planned temple, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J.P. Nadda.
Incidentally, Shah was among the BJP leaders whom the Delhi Minorities Commission in its report on the riots had accused him of making ‘incendiary’ speeches. The report had also accused another BJP leader Kapil Mishra of instigating violence.
“Within hours of the Kapil Mishra’s speech on 23 February 2020, violence broke out in various parts of North East Delhi, including Shiv Vihar, Khajuri Khas, Chand Bagh, Gokulpuri, Maujpur, Karawal Nagar, Jafrabad, Mustafabad, Ashok Nagar, Bhagirathi Vihar, Bhajanpura and Kardam Puri,” it had stated.
Also read: Home Ministry’s Review Finds Delhi Riots ‘Spontaneous’ When They Were Anything But
The campaign, called the ‘Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Nirman Nidhi Abhiyan’ would see the rath along with party activists and leaders going through several parts of Northeast Delhi, including many areas that had witnessed large-scale violence during the February 2020 riots, leaving 53 people dead and hundreds injured, most of them from the minority community.
Speaking about the campaign, Tiwari said he would reach out to “all sections of society to collect contributions for a grand Ram temple”. He insisted that there were people from the “minority community” too who wished to contribute to the cause and declared that he would go to their houses, shops and establishments.
One of the areas the yatra would go to is Chand Bagh, which had witnessed extensive violence and damage to personal property during the riots. Tiwari’s aide Neelkant Bakshi said the said campaign would start from Timarpur and travel to areas like Chand Bagh and Yamuna Vihar on the first day.
He said the move was aimed at collecting funds for the temple and supporting the efforts of the temple trust in Ayodhya. Earlier, the Delhi BJP unit had also stated that along with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), it would collect donations for the temple from February 1 to 27.
According to the plan, the right-wing cadres are expected to reach out to around 43 lakh families in Delhi for seeking donations and informing them about the plan and design of the temple. However, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader had claimed that the “cadres will not contact non-Hindu households”.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP general secretary Kuljeet Chehal was quoted as saying that several leaders and businessmen have already started sending donations. One of them, East Delhi MP and cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir, donated Rs 1 crore for the construction of the temple.