Chitwan, April 18: CPN (Maoist Center) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said it should be proved through research whether Ram, a mythical and religious character, was born in Ayodhyapuri of Madi in Chitwan.    

After inspecting under-construction religious infrastructure at Ayodhyapuri here today, the former Prime Minister was of the view of proving the matter through vigorous research.    

He said he was happy to witness the commencement of public discourse about Ayodhya Dham in his electoral constituency. The matter should be proved and validated and it, as he argued, would help not only to promote local religious tourism but also to contribute to improving people's living standard, he added. The leader called for seeking the help of archaeologists to prove the matter. "If it is proved, it will be a big achievement for the Chitwan folks and will be a matter of pride for the nation,'' Dahal viewed.    

According to the CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairperson, communists have much respect for people's faith in religion. ''The belief that communists are against religion and culture is shaped by dissemination of fake ideas- fake like the claim that citizens are killed when they reach 60 in the communist rule.''    

Chairman Prachanda claimed that communists were responsible and sensitive for cultivating the religious belief of people and promoting religious tourism and taking people's life towards betterment.    

These issues relating to history, myths and custom are highly sensitive as they are intertwined with faith, sentiments and feelings and they are not used for cheap popularity, according to the lawmaker.    

Madi lies in the constituency-3 of Chitwan and leader Dahal was elected to the House of Representatives from here. The government is preparing to place idols of mythical characters Ram, Sita, Laxman and Hanuman at Ayoadhyapuri on April 22. Dahal inspected the site when he was here in course of taking part in several programmes.