Chennai: Upping the ante on communal harmony, a Muslim businessman from the city has donated Rs 1 lakh towards the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, as a voluntary contribution from devotees in Tamil Nadu for the shrine in Uttar Pradesh has been growing.

 With the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra (SRJTK), set up by the Centre to construct the temple, coming out with donation coupons of Rs 10,100 and 1,000, a large number of people came forward to donate, said S V Srinivasan, VHP state organizing secretary who is involved in raising funds for the temple.

"All those whom we approached have been generous in donating for the noble cause," he added. And when the members of the Hindu Munnani, accompanied by the volunteers from the SRJTK approached him, W S Habib gifted a cheque for Rs 1,00,008, taking the fundraisers by surprise.

"I want to foster communal amity between Muslims and Hindus. We are all children of God. I donated the sum with this belief," Habib, a property developer, said. He said he was pained to see Muslims being painted as anti-Hindus or anti-India by some sections.

Pointing out that there was nothing wrong in donating for a good cause, Habib remarked, "I wouldn’t have donated to any other temple but the Ram temple is different as decades-old Ayodhya dispute came to an end."

"All those whom we approached willingly donated. A gentleman who suddenly emerged from the crowd presented a cheque for Rs 50,000. The response from Ram devotion is overwhelming," A T Elangovan, Hindu Munnani's Chennai president, said.

According to K E Srinivasan, Chennai organiser of Dharma Jagran Manch a wing of RSS not only the affluent in the society but also the poor contributed.

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