AYODHYA: Raising the mandir and the Hindutva pitch, the right-wing leaders, saints and seers, at Vishwa Hindu Parishad's dharam sabha in Ayodhya on Sunday, picked up the threads of temple movement from 1992 evoking the same sentiments and asked the government of the day to bring either the law or ordinance to pave way for temple construction at the birthplace of Lord Ram in the temple town.
Around 100 seers, who had thronged Ayodhya from across the country to participate in dharam sabha, made it clear that they wanted the entire land on which makeshift temple of Lord Ram was standing at the disputed plot and not just a portion of it.
"This is the biggest congregation of Ram bhakts after a gap of 26 years in Ayodhya. This huge assembly of devotees is here to take this movement forward. We have been fighting this battle for the last
400 years and our patience should not be put to test anymore," said Rai.
He asserted that Hindus wanted the entire plot of disputed land and not in parts.
"We want whole 2.77 acre land for construction of temple and will not accept division of it at any cost," said VHP vice-president Champat Rai in his inaugural address as the sabha commenced on a fiery note in the temple town.
However the common refrain emerged from the sprawling staged erected at Bhaktmal ki Bagiya was that the judiciary, executive and legislature should work in tandem to pave way for temple construction at the birthplace of Lord Ram. They put the onus on the centre to commence temple construction at the earliest as it was already delayed.
"There is no need to wait for the court order as it is not a priority issue for them and the matter is pending in courts for decades now," said the VHP vice president while addressing a modest
gathering of over 50,000 Ram devotees at the dharam sabha.
Notably, this had come as the endorsement of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement in Haridwar when he had asked the government to go ahead with temple construction without waiting for court order.
On the other, Mahamandelshwar Pramanandji Maharaj who presided over the dharam sabha suggested the Muslim parties involved in the title suit litigation that they should relinquish their claim on the
disputed land before any ordinance for the construction of Ram temple was brought by the government.
"If the ordinance will be brought, it will address the issues of Kashi and Mathura also and the Muslims will not like it. So to maintain harmony and peaceful co-existence, Muslims should hand over the disputed land to Hindus and facilitate the construction of a grand temple at the birthplace," said the Mahant.
He reposed faith in VHP and all those who were taking the temple cause forward.
Ayodhya 'Dharma Sabha' HIGHLIGHTS | Dates for Ram temple construction will be announced early next year, says VHP leader
"Common Muslims should not suffer by being part of conspiracy hatched by few who are against the Ram Temple,” he said.
The saints at the sabha asserted that they were ready to go to any extent of the court delivered a verdict against the temple construction. Moreover, the assertion by the saints over the revival of Hindu sentiment of 1992 has come just ahead of the 26th anniversary of December 6, 1992 when the mosque was raged to ground.
In the middle of the sabha, an RSS activist and a businessman from Pratapgarh handed over a cheque of Rs 1 crore as a donation to the VHP for the cause of temple. Putting forth the Sangh's viewpoint, a senior RSS functionary Krishna Gopal claimed that the RSS would neither sit with peace nor would let the authorities sit pretty over the issue to it reached its logical end and temple was constructed.
The senior RSS functionary reiterated the Sangh's stand saying that the Pariwar would abide by what the saints would decide in connection with the vexed issue.
On the other, one of the seers, Swami Rambhadracharya of Chitrakoot claimed that he had been in touch with a senior minister at the centre who assured him that the central government would go into a huddle over the temple issue after
December 11 when the code of conduct due to assembly elections in five states would end.
"An important decision over temple construction will come from Centre after December 11 and a course of future action will be decided," he said.
President of Ram Janam Bhoomi Nyas, Nritya Gopal Das said that this Sabha indicates the emotions Of people. “We have faith in PM Modi to pave way for construction of Ram Temple,” he told a gathering that largely comprised VHP and RSS activists.
Siya Kishori Saran a Mahant Of Ayodhya said that seers said that Ram was not in a tent but in a jail. It is a question of faith of 100 crores Hindus.
“If the situation persisted then we will stake claim on all those 40000 temples which were bulldozed to pave way for a mosque. “Abhi sirf Ek Babri Masjid giri hai...,” said Vasudevacharya of Ayodhya.
Meanwhile, Mahant Jeetendranand Saraswati appealed all political parties to keep politics aside for construction of Ram Temple.