Amit Shah Opens Ashok Singhal Birth Centenary Celebrations

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah addressed the inaugural ceremony of the centenary year celebrations held in New Delhi on 27 September 2026 to mark the birth anniversary of Ashok Singhal, a former president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Several dignitaries attended the programme.

What was launched at the ceremony

The programme included the digital inauguration of 11 Shri Ram Stambhs, or pillars. These pillars mark the route taken by Shri Ram during his period of exile, and the stated purpose is that they carry the message of the Ram Van Gaman Path to later generations. The ceremony also featured presentations of service initiatives, among them prayers at the temples of Sant Ravidas and Maharishi Valmiki, the Ganga Aarti at Prayagraj, work on Ganga conservation, the commemoration of the Ram Setu movement and the donation of artificial limbs at Ayodhya.

Who Ashok Singhal was

In the account given at the ceremony, Singhal moved through the roles of student, swayamsevak and pracharak before being entrusted with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, where he served as its International President. Though born into an affluent family, he lived for twenty years in a small room at the VHP office, and he is said to have worked sixteen hours a day even in advanced age. He was closely identified with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, and the Home Minister recalled that Singhal did not live to see the Bhoomi Pujan or the completed temple.

What the Home Minister said

Shri Shah described Singhal's life as a confluence of sacrifice, simplicity, patriotism, devotion to Dharma and struggle, and said the centenary year is meant to carry those qualities to households and especially to the young. He argued that a society which forgets its heroes creates an ideological vacuum, after which young people look for ideals in distant civilisations. He also said the change in the country in 2014 altered the direction of governance and that the obstacles before the temple were removed thereafter.

Exam pointers

• The person commemorated is Ashok Singhal, a former International President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
• The occasion is the inauguration of his birth centenary year celebrations, held in New Delhi.
• The number to remember is 11, the Shri Ram Stambhs inaugurated digitally, linked to the Ram Van Gaman Path.