LUCKNOW: As the clamour for Ram temple is gaining ground with right-wing outfits holding a 'Dharma Sabha' in Ayodhya on Sunday, the debate over the vexed issue took a curious turn on Tuesday when Babri Masjid main litigant Iqbal Ansari extended his support to the demand to bring an ordinance for temple construction at the disputed land in the temple town.
Exhorting the political parties to stop politicisation of the issue, Ansari, son of late Hashim Ansari who was the first litigant in the case, claimed that he would welcome any law brought by the government to facilitate the temple in Ayodhya but the atmosphere of the country should not be vitiated by the stakeholders. Ansari now represents his father in the case pending in Supreme Court.
"I don't have any problem with the law if the government wants bring one through Parliament. My only concern is the politics being played over the issue by certain organisations and politicians who are whipping up passions for political gains even while the matter is pending with the Supreme Court," said Ansari.
He also expressed apprehensions over the possibility of something untoward which may take place during the religious build-ups like Dharam Sabha of VHP.
He also conveyed his fears over the security of the minority community in the temple town in the wake of the congregation of lakhs of Hindus for VHP's Dharma Sabha on Sunday. This is a U-turn taken by Ansari who had been reiterating his stand in favour of court's verdict over the issue.
Recently, amidst the demand for the law being raised by none other than RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and seconded by a number of right-wing organisations, Ansari had clarified that he would neither support any 'out-of-court' settlement of the vexed issue nor would he favour an ordinance for the temple construction.
"We will abide only by the order delivered by the Supreme Court to settle the dispute," he had claimed a week ago.
Ansari had also expressed concern about his own and his family's security during the Dharam Sabha and had even threatened to leave the temple town before November 25 if his security was not upgraded.
He had then claimed that minorities were not safe in Ayodhya in the presence of such a huge gathering of majority community for dharma sabha.
While speaking on the issue on Tuesday, Ansari appealed the majority government at the state and the Centre to take some concrete steps in order to settle the issue for once and all and end the stalemate.
"We are the law abiding citizens of the country and if a law will be brought to end the Ayodhya dispute, we will welcome it. We will support any ordinance over the issue but peace and harmony should prevail in the country," maintained Ansari.
He added that the issue had been pending for so long and now it should be permanently resolved.
Meanwhile, Ansari's Tuesday stand was supported by Ram Temple chief priest Swami Satendra Das.
"I welcome Ansari's stand. The government should now bring a law and commence temple construction at the birthplace of Lord Ram who is relegated to a tent for ages," said Satendra Das.
"Iqbal Ansari's father Hashim Ansari wanted to come to a compromise but unfortunately, it didn't materialise. So, it is good that Iqbal Ansari has come onboard to support the construction of Ram Mandir. I hope the government now steps up their efforts to build the Ram Mandir," Das said.