In Ayodhya, no place for this Ram

One of the longest running Ramleela performances in the world has been stopped for the first time in nine years due to non-release of funds by the Uttar Pradesh government, an official said on Tuesday.

The Ramleela, being organised by the Ayodhya Research Institute, an autonomous body of the Uttar Pradesh culture department, has been stopped since Monday, he said.

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"People work on credit. Due to the lack of funds, we have no other option but to stop all the activities of the ARI. The notice has been put up to inform the general public as people come to watch the Ramleela every evening," said ARI's director Y P Singh.

Interestingly, the event was started on May 20, 2004, while Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav was the then chief minister of the state. At present, his son Akhilesh Yadav is heading the UP government.

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Singh said that in the last fiscal, an installment of Rs 90 lakh was not released and as a result all the activities, including the staging of Ramleela, have been stopped.

"As the fund was not released, the institute ran into dues of Rs 80-90 lakh, including around Rs eight lakh for Ramleela. As the fiscal year ended on March 31, the second installment of the grant has also lapsed," he said.

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The institute gets Rs 2.73 crore annually from the state government for various activities, including research work, organising Ramleela and book publication, Singh said.

The Ramleela organised by ARI was the longest running stage show in the world, he claimed. "Till April 1 the Ramleela was being staged 365 days a year from the last nine years," he said.

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Not only Ramleela, the Ram Katha, which was organised just before the start of Ramleela every day between 4 to 5 pm has also been discontinued, he said.

A notice has been put at the auditorium of Tulsi Smarak Bhavan that staging of Ramleela and Ramkatha have been stopped, he said.

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Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party has slammed the state government for non-release of fund.

"It is most unfortunate that while the government is making all efforts to appease minorities, it has overlooked the sentiments of Hindus," state BJP chief spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak alleged.

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The government should immediately take cognisance of the non-release of fund and identify where the lapse took place, Pathak said.

"The government should immediately look into the matter as Ayodhya is the centre of faith for crore of people and if any activity related to it is discontinued then it is a serious matter," Pathak said.

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