Key facts
- Congress calls Ram Temple donation theft a 'maha paap'
- Questions PM Modi's silence on the theft
- UP SIT granted 15-day extension to probe the case
- Lawyers in Ayodhya boycotting the accused, sparking morality vs legality debate
The theft of donation money at the Ayodhya Ram Temple has exploded into a full-scale political controversy, with the Congress party labelling the incident a 'maha paap' and publicly challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence on the matter. The Ram Temple, inaugurated earlier this year in a ceremony that marked one of the BJP's most celebrated political achievements, now finds itself at the centre of an embarrassing scandal.
The Uttar Pradesh government's Special Investigation Team, set up to probe the donation theft, has been granted a 15-day extension to complete its work, indicating that the investigation has yet to reach a definitive conclusion. The extension suggests the scale or complexity of the alleged theft is greater than initially assessed.
The case has also generated an unusual ethical debate within the legal community. Lawyers in Ayodhya have announced a boycott of the accused individuals — refusing to represent them in court — on moral grounds, even as legal experts argue that every accused person has a constitutional right to legal representation. The tension between moral outrage and due process has triggered a broader national conversation on the limits of professional solidarity.
For the BJP and the Ram Temple Trust, the scandal arrives at a particularly sensitive moment, given the enormous public and political investment in the temple's construction and consecration. Opposition parties, led by Congress, are expected to keep the pressure on, demanding both accountability and an explanation from the government on how theft could occur at such a heavily guarded and symbolically important site.