Ram Temple inauguration: Doctor who lobbied for US visa to Modi among 100-odd foreign guests
One-third of invitees from the US, including doctor who lobbied for US visa clearance for Modi in 2014; many others not on the list due to security protocol, says VHP
4 min read
The Congress charged that the Ram Temple has been turned into a "political project" by the BJP and the RSS and that the consecration event has been brought forward for "electoral gain" in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. (PTI)A US-based oncologist who lobbied for visa clearance for Narendra Modi in early 2014, a senior fellow at the Nokia Bell Labs in Indiana, a Norwegian MP, a New Zealand scientist, a Fijian industrialist and saints who have established Hindu schools in the Caribbean. These are among the 100-odd international guests who have been invited to attend the January 22 Ram temple inauguration in Ayodhya.
Guests from as many as 53 countries, including the US, the UK, Europe, Australia and Africa, are on the VHP guest list for the event.
The highest number of invites, almost one-third of the guest list, have been sent to the US. Five people have been invited from Hong Kong, three each from South Korea, Malaysia and the UK and two each from Germany and Italy. The rest of the countries have one invitee each.
One of the key guests is Dr Bharat Barai, who lobbied with the US government to sanction Modi’s visa just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014. Till then, the BJP leader was facing a 10-year visa ban imposed by the US government.
An ardent supporter of the BJP, Dr Barai has hosted many party stalwarts at his residence in the US. He has also worked on strengthening ties between Israel and India.
“We wanted to invite key officials from other countries too. In some cases, there were PMs and other senior dignitaries from foreign governments who were on the list. However, the Central administration advised against it given the security protocol required for such a guest list. Maybe a separate visit for such dignitaries will be organised later,” said Swami Vigyananand, joint general secretary of the VHP.
Vigyananand handles VHP’s international affairs and is the global chairman of the World Hindu Foundation. According to Vigyananand, there was considerable excitement about the event among Hindus across the world. Many key government position holders in foreign countries had approached the VHP expressing their desire to attend the event but had to be politely declined, he said.
Another key invitee from the US is Dr Abhay Asthana, a fellow at Nokia Bell Labs-CTO in Indiana, who also serves as the president of World Hindu Council of America, known as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America.
Himanshu Gulati, Norway MP representing the Progress Party who earlier worked in the office of the Norwegian Prime Minister, will be a key representative of the Hindu community from Scandinavia, while New Zealand scientist and academic Prof Guna Magesan, who is also the general secretary of Hindu Council of New Zealand, will represent the Indian diaspora at the ceremony.
Fiji, which has a significant Indian diaspora, will see the participation of Jai Dayal, owner of the country’s biggest steel manufacturing company.
Apart from them, Dhiraj Bhai shah, president of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh in the UK; veteran VHP leaders Rameshbhai Jain from Germany and Vitthal Maheshwari from Italy; Subramaniam Ramamurthy, VHP president in Australia; Ratan Garg from Canada; Swami Prakashnanda, the founder and acharya of Chinmaya Mission of Trinidad and Tobago; Swami Aksharananda, founder and principal of the prestigious Saraswati Vidya Niketan (Private Hindu College) in Guyana; businessman Sathasivam from Sri Lanka and Hindu leaders from various countries in South Asia and elsewhere are part of the guest list.
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