Pointing to Delhi’s cultural and religious fabric being under assault, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said the BJP is turning sacred traditions into party property. From blocking age-old Kanwar camps to cancelling Ramleelas and penalising organisers with hefty fines, he said BJP is using every means to sideline neutral and opposition-linked organising groups. He warned that even upcoming Chhath Puja is being captured for BJP’s own cadres, stressing that such politics makes BJP “not followers of Ram, but enemies of Ram.”
Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “Ever since the BJP formed its government in Delhi, it has been constantly visible that BJP tries to keep only its own people involved in all Hindu religious programmes, while slowly excluding members of other opposition parties and neutral social groups from these events. BJP does this so that later it can spread the falsehood that all Hindu religious programmes are conducted only by BJP, and that no other party is interested in such events.”
Citing the example of the Kanwar Yatra, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Even during the Kanwar Yatra, BJP did not allow hundreds of committees—which had been setting up Kanwar camps for decades—to continue this time, only because those committees or their members had links with opposition parties. Under a conspiracy, BJP denied permission to many such committees and instead granted it to committees formed by BJP members. In this way, thousands of social workers who had been serving devotees for years by setting up Kanwar camps were deliberately excluded from this service.”
He continued, “In a similar manner, BJP showed bias by cancelling permissions of many committees that had been organising Ramleela(s) for years across Delhi, and instead granted permission only to groups linked to BJP. As a result, hundreds of social and religious people who had long been conducting these events were pushed out of this important Hindu festival.”
Pointing to a specific case, Saurabh Bharadwaj added, “Last year, in Chirag Delhi’s Delhi Development Authority (DDA) park, the Ramleela committee which had been staging the event for many years was first granted permission by the BJP-ruled DDA, and the committee even deposited the money. But later, the permission was suddenly cancelled, simply because the committee was not run by BJP members. Only after immense struggle and last-minute efforts was the committee allowed to perform Ramleela. Even then, the BJP-ruled DDA imposed a fine of ₹15 lakh on the committee, citing that swings had been set up at the Ramleela grounds. I want to ask BJP’s DDA through the media—can they show even one large Ramleela in Delhi where swings are not set up?”
Highlighting further harassment, he said, “Not just that, to ensure the committee could not stage Ramleela in future, the BJP-ruled DDA had a long, wide wall constructed right in the middle of the park, and overnight, large tree trunks were brought in and installed into the ground, so that the event could not take place on that land again. These people are not followers of Lord Ram, they are enemies of Ram.”
Warning of a wider trend, Saurabh Bharadwaj further added, “Today, BJP is busy declaring people in this country as ‘anti-Hindu’ and ‘anti-national’. Those who are connected to BJP get religious permissions easily, but those who have been independently organising religious events for years are being systematically thrown out under a conspiracy. We have clearly seen this in the Kanwar Yatra and the Ramleela.”
“I also want to tell you that in the coming days, when the Chhath Puja is organised, the BJP-led Delhi government will give permission only to BJP members to organise it. The religious and social groups that have been organising Chhath Puja for years will not be granted permission this time. BJP is running this propaganda across the country, so that anyone outside BJP can be declared anti-Hindu, and all government support for such religious events goes only to BJP people,” he concluded.
