LUCKNOW: Challenging the country’s largest minority community to accept that Lord Ram was their ancestor, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Tuesday, sought to know if Muslims would ever be able to acknowledge that their ancestors were Lord Ram devotees.
Citing the example of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, the Republic Day chief guest, who during his visit to India claimed that his DNA was Indian and that Lord Ram was considered an ancestor in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world.
CM Yogi was responding to bevy of questions at a private TV channel’s conclave, here, on Tuesday. Highlighting Indonesia’s strong cultural ties to India, noting that despite being a Muslim-majority country, Indonesia honours its Indian heritage, with traditions like Ramlila, a national airline named Garuda, and Lord Ganapati featured on its currency.
“Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. They take pride in their Indian DNA and ancestry considering Lord Ram as their ancestor, their national airline is named after Garuda, the vahan (carriage) of Lord Vishnu, Lord Ganapati is part of their currency and Ramlila is their national festival,” said the CM.
He added that the Indonesian President’s name is inspired by Sanskrit asking: “Would a significant portion of India’s population, often viewed only as a ‘vote bank,’ accept Lord Ram as their ancestor, despite getting benefitted from the land and its resources?”
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