It is doubtful if PM Modi observed fast for 11 days ahead of Ram temple consecration: Veerappa Moily
Bengaluru, Jan 23: The Congress in Karnataka on Tuesday termed the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya a 'political event' and expressed scepticism about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fast for 11 days ahead of the Prana Pratishtha' ceremony.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he worshipped Mahatma Gandhi's Rama and not the BJP's Rama' at the newly built Ayodhya temple in UP.
Asked whether he has plans similar to the BJP to send three crore pilgrims to Ayodhya, Siddaramaiah wondered whether there was no Rama in the temples in Karnataka.
"Aren't the Rama temples in the Karnataka villages true Rama temples? Don't the idols there belong to Sriramachandra, Sita, Lakshmana and Anjaneya? The BJP is out to do politics around Rama temple in Ayodhya. Our objection is to their politics," he said.
The Chief Minister said, "We love, respect and worship Mahatma Gandhi's Rama, Ramayana's Rama and Dasharath's son Sri Ramachandra, not the BJP's Rama."
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Former Chief Minister Veerappa Moily expressed doubt over the claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi observed fast for 11 days ahead of the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple.
"During a morning walk today, a doctor, who was accompanying me said it is not possible for anyone to survive for 11 days without food. If someone has survived then it is a miracle. Hence, it is doubtful that he (Modi) observed fast," he told media in Chikkaballapura.
"If he (Modi) had done Pooja in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple without observing fast then that place will become impure and will not generate (supernatural) power. He (Modi) says he has observed fast for 11 days and survived only on tender coconut. There were no signs of fatigue on his face. People and not me are questioning whether he observed fast or not," Moily, a former union minister said.
He was curious to know what agenda BJP will have after exhausting the Ram temple issue.
"They (BJP) came to power in various states in the last 25 years saying they will install Ram statue. Now the temple is ready. What next?" Moily wondered.
Karnataka IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge said he does not have devotion' as he believed in Janata Janardan' (God in people) and Indian constitution.
"I will go there (to Ayodhya) if Saheb' asks me. I go (on pilgrimage) if I am interested to learn something. Did anyone invite me to go to Varanasi or directed me to go to Rishikesh? I went there (pilgrimage centres) on my own to learn," Kharge, son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, said in a press conference.
"I don't have devotion. What can I do? I believe in Janata Janardan'. I am a devotee of the Constitution. There is scope for everyone in the Constitution," he noted.
Kharge took a dig at the BJP leaders, stating that they have been saying that they are not politicising the Ram temple.
However, now the BJP leaders should explain why they want to take three crore pilgrims to Ayodhya.
"Let them take the pilgrims. After all, it's pilgrimage only. May good things happen to the pilgrims. Let them go there and realise the true colours of the BJP," he quipped.
The Minister said the Karnataka government does not have plans now to send the pilgrims to Ayodhya.
"We are already providing all sorts of subsidies. The Hindu Religious Endowment Minister can give the details. We are working to offer Rama Rajya in Karnataka," he explained.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar slammed the BJP leaders for their comments on Siddaramaiah raising Jai Sri Ram' slogan at the inauguration of a Ram temple on Monday.
"Is Lord Rama the personal property of BJP? Rama is no one's property. What did Mahatma Gandhi say: Raghupati Raghava Rajaram, Patit Paavan Sitaram," he pointed out.
The Deputy Chief Minister further said, "There is Rama in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's name and Shiva as well as Shiva's son Kumar in my name Shivakumar'.
Noting that the BJP leaders have no other issue left with them, Shivakumar said the BJP leaders were somehow trying to portray Congress as 'anti-Hindu'.
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Bhopal gas tragedy: Effects of leak seen in next generation of survivors, says ex-forensic doctor
Bhopal (PTI): The effects of poisonous gases that leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal 40 years ago were seen in the next generations of those who survived the tragedy, a former government forensic doctor has said.
At least 3,787 people were killed, and more than five lakh were affected after a toxic gas leaked from the pesticide factory in the city on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984.
Speaking at an event held by organisations of gas tragedy survivors on Saturday, Dr D K Satpathy, former head of the forensics department of Bhopal's Gandhi Medical College, said he performed 875 post-mortems on the first day of the disaster and witnessed 18,000 autopsies the next five years.
Sathpathy claimed Union Carbide had denied questions about the effects of poisonous gases on unborn children of women survivors and said effects would not cross the placental barrier in the womb in any condition.
He said blood samples of pregnant women who died in the tragedy were examined, and it was found that 50 per cent of poisonous substances found in the mother were also found in the child in her womb.
Children born to surviving mothers had the poisonous substances in their system, and this affected the health of the next generation, Sathpathy claimed and questioned why research on this was stopped.
Such effects will continue for generations, he said.
Satpathy said it was said that MIC gas leaked from the Union Carbide plant, and when it came in contact with water, thousands of gases were formed, and some of these caused cancer, blood pressure and liver damage.
Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Group for Information and Action said Satpathy, who carried out most autopsies, and other first responders in the 1984 disaster, including the senior doctors in the emergency ward and persons involved in mass burials, narrated their experiences during the event.
Rashida Bee, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh, a poster exhibition covering every aspect of the disaster will be held till December 4 to mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy.
An anniversary rally will be organised, with focus on global corporate crimes such as industrial pollution and climate change, she said.
