Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, actor Ranvir Shorey said on Saturday that one thing he likes about the former is that he decisively settles long-standing conflicts in the country.
Responding to a question on an earlier post on microblogging site X in which he stated he felt ashamed to have once wanted to sacrifice the temple at Ayodhya and build a monument or hospital at the site rendered vacant after the fall of the Babri mosque just to end the long-standing dispute that pitted two religious communities against one another, Ranvir said, “he would pin the blame on the political dispensation (Congress) for this guilt trip that the Hindus had.”
“I again pin the blame on the political dispensation. For example, in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, you (Rahul Gandhi) go to every region and say you’re your people. We believe in federalism. Your identity is your identity. But you call the yatra the Bharat Jodo Yatra. This is a classic pull-and-push thing that Congress has been using for decades to stay in power, and I mean the dynastic Congress. The same thing happened with the Ram temple, too. If you remember what happened earlier in 1947 and after that, the Congress door was open, to keep the cracks alive, and then they said that only we could keep this together,” the ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla’ actor said in an interview with ANI.
“And one thing that I like about Modi is that he is ending long-standing conflicts. No matter what came up there, someone had to be upset, whether it was the mosque, hospital or now the temple,” Shorey said.
Earlier, in December, last year, Shorey posted on X, “I was one of the many Hindus who were willing to sacrifice the temple at Ayodhya and have a monument or hospital in its place just so we can end the long-standing conflict between communities. Today I feel ashamed that I was willing to sacrifice righteousness at the altar of peace. I am ashamed that I didn’t stand up for Maryada Purshottam Shri Ram and his values.”
The ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of Ram Lalla was held on January 22, with PM Modi performing the ceremony led by a select group of priests.
Appreciating PM Modi for launching the Swachh Bharat Mission, the world’s largest sanitation initiative, the actor said, “I loved that the first thing the Prime Minister did after coming to power was to launch this mission. Although this could have been launched just after independence.”
Author and scientist Anand Ranganathan also hailed the Swachh Bharat Mission launched by PM Modi.
“It’s quite incredible. He (PM Modi) built 120 million toilets. Each new toilet made saved a family Rs 52,000 in health costs…and 110 million tap water connections. There is a cascading effect that people don’t realise,” the actor added. (ANI)
