Leading CPI(M) member Brinda Karat announced on Tuesday that her party would not attend the January 22 grand consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the CPI(M), is one of the opposition leaders invited to the function the following year. The seasoned Left leader defended the choice to cancel the prime minister Narendra Modi-slated grand consecration ceremony, claiming that her party opposes both the “politicization” of religious events and the mixing of politics and religion.
“Our party will not attend the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. We respect the religious sentiments of the people but they (BJP) are combining religion with politics. This is an attempt to politicise a religious programme. This is not right,” Karat, a member of the CPI(M)’s Politburo, said on Monday.
“Using religion as a political weapon or for advancing a political agenda is not right,” she added.
“It is not right what these people are doing, it’s purely political,” the former Rajya Sabha MP said.
“Politics and religion must be separated and kept at a distance. Mixing them only advances the RSS agenda. When religion is used is a political weapon or a tool to advance an idea or agenda, it loses respect,” Karat added.
On whether the CPI(M) was boycotting the event, the veteran Left leader said, “There is no question of boycott. We have an understanding that using a religious function as a political weapon isn’t right.”