LUCKNOW: Pledging all the 11 properties owned by the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (RJN) in Ayodhya to the proposed temple trust to be set up by the Centre, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) sought to distance itself from the official stand of Nyas head Nritya Gopal Das that no other trust was required as the RJN itself could oversee the temple construction.
The VHP also declared that the alternative land for the mosque should be allocated outside the cultural limits of Ayodhya.
“All properties of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas worth around Rs 40 crore will be transferred to this new trust as soon as it comes into being,” said Dinesh Chandra, VHP convenor, in Ayodhya recently.
RJN chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das had kicked up a row drawing a reaction from different Hindu quarters by saying that there was no need for a second trust to be set up when the RJN was already existing as it was capable of supervising the temple construction which should be in consonance with the map and plan chalked out by the VHP.
However, the VHP leadership has been batting for the inclusion of everyone who had contributed to the Ram temple movement in the upcoming temple trust.
The Hindu outfit, which has been at the centre of the temple movement since the early 1990s, also made it clear that after getting the Ramjanbhoomi land in its possession for temple construction, the Centre should avoid giving land for the mosque within the cultural boundaries of Ayodhya.
The proposed land for the mosque should be outside Ayodhya's periphery of 42 kos (approx 130 km), it said. “We are not against the construction of mosque but it should lie outside the cultural periphery of Ayodhya,” said a senior VHP leader camping in Ayodhya.
“However, we are not in favour of exerting any pressure on the government over the issue of allocation of mosque land. It should be left to it to take a proper and judicious decision on it while complying with the Supreme Court order,” he added.
On the contrary, a number of Muslim parties including litigant Iqbal Ansari have been expressing their wish for land for the mosque inside the acquired 67-acre area around the Janmabhoomi complex.
The VHP leader also assured that stones lying at the Karyashaala will be used in the construction of Ram temple as sentiments of karsevaks were associated with these stone slabs. The outfit is not against the idea of awarding the worship rights at the temple to the Nirmohi Akhara whose claim to the disputed land was
dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, former BJP MP Vinay Katiyar, who had darshan of Lord Ram at the makeshift temple at the Janmabhoomi complex in Ayodhya on Friday, said though it was the prerogative of PM Modi to set up the new trust for temple construction, they were expecting that the existing trust would be modified to give it a new look.