A video that features Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, allegedly comparing toilets to temples ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is being shared on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh compared toilets with temples ahead of inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Fact: Jairam Ramesh made this statement in 2012 when he was serving as a Union Minister of Rural Development and during the inauguration of the ‘Nirmal Yatra’, an initiative aimed at raising awareness about sanitation. Later, Ramesh’s comments faced criticism from both the opposition and members of his own Congress party. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
A relevant keyword search regarding the claim led us to a news report by The Indian Express from 6 October 2012 with the title, ‘Jairam Ramesh says toilets are more important in India than temples.’ We found that Jairam Ramesh made this statement when he was serving as a Union Minister of Rural Development and during the inauguration of the ‘Nirmal Yatra’, an initiative aimed at raising awareness about sanitation.
Subsequent research led us to a longer video of his speech during the inauguration on the YouTube channel of ABP News. He stated “I think this yatra aims to build something more crucial than temples – toilets. Regardless of how many temples one visits, true salvation is incomplete without access to toilets, even if you practice rituals like cracking coconuts or performing Aarti.” He continues to say that “the most unfortunate thing in our country is that the temples are the dirtiest places… We must change this thinking and we must treat cleanliness as the true God as per the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. If we accept cleanliness as the true God, we will become a developed nation.”
Jairam Ramesh’s comments faced criticism from both the opposition and members of his own Congress party. The party emphasized its respect for the sanctity of all religious places. Later, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh replaced Ramesh with Bharatsin Solanki
following the stint in the Ministry.
To sum up, an old 2012 video of Jairam Ramesh commenting on temples and toilets is shared as the recent one.
