Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana has made irresponsible comments about the theft of donations from the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He said that devotees who did not donate at Ramlala’s feet with pure heart, their money could be stolen. Opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Congress alleged that Satish Mahana was deliberately trying to trivialize the theft.
Mahana said their money was not stolen but spent on building the temple and the beautiful appearance of the temple is proof of that. The theft has already sparked political controversy in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, Govinda Dev Giri, treasurer of Ayodhya’s Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra Trust, said reports that Rs 13 crore was stolen from the Ram temple were false. He estimates that the amount stolen is not more than Rs 4 crore.
According to the police, the CCTV footage of Ayodhya’s Ram temple showed that five of the eight accused were directly involved in the theft. All of them are office bearers of the Ram Mandir Trust and are close to some members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Responding to a question whether the stolen money should be returned to the devotees in this situation, Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana said, “No one ever wants to return the donated money.” He said that the government and the trust have taken action against theft and strict action will be taken against those found guilty. But it is unacceptable to think that the entire organization fighting for the Ramjanmbhoomi movement is full of thieves.