DEHRADUN: A fierce political controversy erupted in Uttarakhand after a right-wing group carried out a hawan for the “suddhikaran” (purification) of Haldwani’s Ram Lila Floor, two days after Congress nationwide president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a public rally on the venue.Members of Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas Sangathan carried out the ritual on Aug 10, objecting to the venue’s use for political functions and alleging that controversial slogans have been raised throughout Kharge’s Aug 8 tackle.Girsh Chandra Pandey, a member of the organisation, defended the ritual, stating that the venue holds spiritual significance and needs to be reserved strictly for cultural occasions. “Ram Lila Floor is supposed for spiritual and cultural occasions and shouldn’t be given to political events,” Pandey mentioned, including that sure slogans raised throughout the rally “seemed like Islamic slogans.” He additionally referenced Kharge’s previous remarks focusing on BJP and RSS.The incident drew sharp criticism from Congress state president Ganesh Godiyal, who termed the purification ritual a direct insult to the Scheduled Caste (SC) group and accused the ruling BJP of orchestrating the occasion.Godiyal questioned police’s neutrality, focusing on Nainital SSP T C Manjunath for failing to take motion towards these concerned within the ritual, whereas police had actively restrained Congress employees throughout the rally. “The act was carried out at BJP’s behest,” Godiyal mentioned.Denying any connection to the organisers of the ritual, BJP cupboard minister and state spokesperson Khajan Das dismissed the allegations as “baseless, false, and deceptive.”Das countered by criticising the conduct on the Congress rally, asserting that political sloganeering at Ram Lila Floor has harm Sanatan sentiments. He accused the opposition of trying to divert consideration from the controversial slogans by stoking caste-based divisions.
