The Congress mouthpiece National Herald, after publishing an article by Aakar Patel that compared the Supreme Court of India to its Pakistani counterpart, has apologized for another article it published titled ‘Why a devout Hindu will never pray at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya’.

We apologise if the article ‘Why a devout Hindu…’ hurt anyone or any group’s sentiments. The views expressed in the article are author’s personal views and do not reflect those of #NationalHerald https://t.co/J1r9GlsVHv — National Herald (@NH_India) November 10, 2019

In its apology, the Editor-in-Chief of the National Herald said, “We apologise if the article headlined ‘Why a devout Hindu will never pray at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya’ hurt anyone or any group’s sentiments and feelings. That was not our intention.” The statement added, “The views expressed in the article are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of National Herald.”

In the article, the author asked the questions, “Can God reside in a temple built by force, violence and bloodshed? Can prayers be ever addressed in such a temple even if God does decide to reside there?” Sujata Anandan also said, “First, as a devout Hindu – and I am sorry to sound so orthodox – I would want a pure site to build any temple I would pray in. Not one that was previously occupied by a mosque, though I have nothing against mosques and Muslims.”

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Then, Anandan stated, “Second, when the Babri Masjid was indeed demolished, I got a bee in my bonnet thinking no God could reside in a place resonating with the screams of innocents killed over the dispute and, moreover, with the purity of the temple violated by the blood spilt during the conflict.”

“Thirdly”, argued the author, “even if my gods let me down and do come to reside there, would they be able to hear my prayers over and above those screams that I am sure are still resonating round the disputed site and could get trapped within the walls of the temple? I would feel worse than those who build their homes on the ashes of other people’s hopes and aspirations. With that sort of feeling, my prayers would be neither genuine nor answered, I was and still am sure. That is my faith and belief, which has no basis in legal premises or personal ideologies.”

The Congress mouthpiece has made a habit of denigrating Hindu sentiments. National Herald in an article titled, “Are our epics replete with #MeToo sagas?” had argued that “Disregard for women’s consent and misogyny are deeply rooted in our religious, cultural and literary traditions”. Another article published by the Congress mouthpiece had said that India was secular ‘despite’ Hindus.