Discordant notes will only enhance social, religious cleavages: Ashwani Kumar after Ram temple consecration

The republics core values will not be diminished by participation in the celebrations in Ayodhya, he said.Kumar quit the Congress on February 15, 2002, ending his 46-year-long association with the party.

Former law minister Ashwani Kumar on Monday said as the nation rejoices in the 'pran 'pratishtha' ceremony of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, any discordant notes at this time will only enhance social and religious cleavages and ill serve national interest.

The former Congress leader and ex-Union minister in a statement said that the occasion should be a moment for national unity around an overwhelming national sentiment.

''Discordant notes at this time will only enhance social and religious cleavages that ill serve national interest. The sensitivities of the nation and intense emotions connected with the ceremony need to be respected as a necessary condition of democracy,'' he said in his statement.

Kumar observed a holistic and magnanimous view needs to be taken on sensitive moments such as the present.

''The secular credentials of parties must rest on firmer footing so as not to be called in question for respecting religious and emotional sensitivities of the vast mass of the people. The republic's core values will not be diminished by participation in the celebrations in Ayodhya,'' he said.

Kumar quit the Congress on February 15, 2002, ending his 46-year-long association with the party. He has, however, not joined any other party till date.