Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has asked people of India to dedicate their commitment to the secular credentials of the nation and its Constitution by refusing to be a part of the inauguration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.
In his message, released just after the inauguration of the Ram Lalla temple at Ayodhya on January 22 (Monday), Mr. Vijayan expressed his frustation that of late, the line that separates religion and State seemed to be getting thinner.
This was opposite of the idea of the first Prime Minister of the nation, Jawaharlal Nehru, that Indian secularism should mean a clear separation between religion and the State, he said.
“One day, We have come to a point when the inauguration of a religious place of worship in the country is being observed as a state event,” Mr. Vijayan said.
This is a huge departure from the days when our Constitutional office-bearers would be hesitate about taking part in religious event as it would cast aspersions on their credentials as a secular state, he said.
Secularism is the soul of the democratic republic of India.It has been part of India’s identity as a nation right from the days of the national movement. Those hail from different faiths as well as those who were not part of any religion had taken an active role in the Indian freedom struggle. This nation thus belongs to all people and all sections of Indian society in equal way, Mr. Vijayan reiterated.
’Religion is a private affair and the Indian Constitution clearly states that all persons are equally free to freedom of conscience and have the right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion, he said.“As those who an oathed to uphold the Constitution of India, we should ensure that every person within our territories enjoys this right in equal way. At the same time, we cannot be promoting one religion above all others, or demean one religion beneath every other,” Mr. Vijayan said in his message.
He said that the occasion of the inauguration of the Ram Lalla in temple in Ayodhya should be used as an opportunity to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India bypassing religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities.The nation’s prosperity lies in the development of scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform, he added.
