Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Monday alleged that the houses of those who are contributing to the funds for the construction of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya are being marked, “like the Nazis of Germany” who had a similar system to identify the Jews for execution.
Kumaraswamy was speaking at a press conference in Shivamogga when he told reporters about this “system” that is being practiced after collection of funds for the Ram Mandir. He reiterated the same in a series of tweets. “I don’t know where these developments will take us to. You all know what happened in Germany under the Nazi rule. Lakhs of people lost their lives in that country,” he said at the presser.
“It was understood that the fundraisers were marking the homes of the donors. Don’t know why. During Hitler’s time, Nazi-Jews were upset and millions of people died. Why thy trend is taking place in the country is not known,” he wrote in his tweet.
“Historians say that the RSS were born in Germany at the same time as the Nazis. There are fears that the RSS will follow suit if the same policies are enforced. Fundamental rights are being violated in the country,” he added.
“It is a situation where no one can claim their feelings. Who knows what will happen if the media upholds the sentiments of the government in the next few days. Looking at the climate, it is clear that anything can happen in the country,” he said.
Further, the former CM questioned the BSY-led Karnataka government for not delivering on the promise of Rs 5 lakh for those who lost their houses in the floods. “Many have not got more than Rs 1 lakh. However, now the government has said that there were no applicants to take the money,” he said.
Meanwhile, funds worth over Rs 600 crore have been collected for construction of the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya. This donation has been collected in 20 days, said trustees of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the body responsible for building the temple. The fundraising campaign will reportedly continue till February.
So far, contributions from Madhya Pradesh have been more than Rs 100 crore — over 10 people in the state have donated Rs 1 crore, while more than 20 people have contributed Rs 50 lakh.
The donation drive began on January 15 with President Ramnath Kovind contributing Rs 5,00,100 for the construction of the temple. Several other eminent citizens have donated for the temple.
The construction of the grand temple is estimated to cost around Rs 1,100 crore, of which around Rs 300-400 crore will be required to build the main temple structure. On August 5, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had performed the ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ for the temple in Ayodhya. The Ram temple will be built in about three years.
