'Ram' and 'roti' will go hand in hand in India: RSS leader

New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said on Friday "Ram" and "roti" will go hand in hand in the country.

The construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is not only a religious matter, but a symbol of the nation's development. The construction of Ram Temple is complementary and nutritious for nation-building; it symbolises freedom from cultural and ideological slavery, said Hosabale.

Launched a book on Ram Janmabhoomi here, Hosbole said, "In the name of secularism, no country can compromise its nationality. A country that does not have a sense of its cultural roots and nationality is not a nation."

While releasing the book "Ram Janmabhoomi -- Truth, Evidence and Faith" written by Arun Anand and Vinay Nalwa, Hosbole said that some people have distorted the meaning of secularism.

"They either do not know about nationality or they deliberately try to deceive people. Freedom is not just political, freedom from ideological and cultural slavery is also necessary. The British had left, but the Englishness is still around," he said.

Hosbole described the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya as a symbol of Ram Rajya's confidence and Indian culture.

He said the period from 1984 to 1992 was the peak of the Ram temple movement in the country. During this time, when the debate of nationality was going on in India, the same debate was going on in other countries of the world, including Germany.