BARABANKI: In a stern warning to those "dreaming" of rebuilding the Babri masjid, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday asked them to live by following rules as the day of 'Qayamat' (doomsday) will "never come".
Speaking at an event in Barabanki, the district neighbouring Ayodhya, Adityanath said, "We had said that 'Ram Lalla, hum aayenge, mandir wahi banaayenge' (Ram, we will come and build the temple right there). Has the temple been built? Is there any doubt?" The audience responded by chanting "Jai Shri Ram".
"The day of 'Qayamat' (doomsday) will never come and hence the Babri structure will never be rebuilt. Those who are dreaming of the day of 'Qayamat' will rot away, that day will never come," he said.
He warned that if someone breaks the law, the path only leads to hell, not heaven.
Adityanath's comments come in the backdrop of office bearers of a right wing group embarking on a "Chalo Murshidabad Yatra" from Lucknow to protest against the proposed construction of a replica of Babri Masjid in West Bengal's Murshidabad district.
Two weeks ago, suspended Trinamool Congress MLA and now Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir had declared that the construction of Babri 2.0 will begin at noon on February 11.
Following this, the Hindutva fringe group Vishwa Hindu Raksha Parishad had called on the people of Uttar Pradesh to march to Murshidabad.
The organisation's office bearers from Bababanki, Gonda, Balrampur, Jaunpur, Varanasi, etc. will join the yatra and proceed to Murshidabad, its president Gopal Rai said.
Adityanath was taking part in religious rituals organised at Ram Janaki Temple in Dulhadepur Kuti, Barabanki, in the memory of late Mahant Baba Harishankar Das Maharaj, according to a statement from the Uttar Pradesh government.
Speaking in Barabanki, Adityanath said that after 500 years, the "glorious moment" of Ram temple construction took place in Ayodhya.
"In these 500 years, many kings and emperors have come, many governments have come. India gained independence in 1947 and after the first elections in 1952, governments were formed. But why didn't the idea of building a temple for Lord Ram at his birthplace ever occur to them?" he asked.
Adityanath was taking part in religious rituals organised at the Ram Janaki Temple in Dulhadepur Kuti, Barabanki, in the memory of late Mahant Baba Harishankar Das Maharaj, an official statement said.
Taking a jibe at opposition parties, he said there is no place for Ramdrohis, or traitors of Lord Ram, anywhere.
"Some people adopt an opportunistic attitude. They remember Ram when a crisis strikes and forget him later. So, Lord Ram has also forgotten them now. There is no place for Ramdrohis anywhere," he said.
Intensifying his attack, Adityanath said, "We want to tell those who were firing on Ram devotees, obstructing Ram's work, and those who are still dreaming of the Babri structure: the day of doom will never come. Don't live for the doomsday, learn to live according to the rules in India."
He added that every Indian must work with a positive mindset for the vision of 'Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat' (One India, Better India).
"Every saint's spiritual practice is for his country. His 'dharma' (moral duty) is also dedicated to the country. Both complement each other. One is the body and the other is the soul, the two cannot be kept apart," Adityanath said.
He said India cannot be separated from Sanatan Dharma.
"That is why you see that Sanatan Dharma, India and Indianness are being attacked from all over the world. We must be vigilant against attacks from within and outside. Because those who don't like India's progress, those who cannot digest the resolve of Viksit Bharat, are engaged in a conspiracy," Adityanath said.
He said people must brace themselves to stop three types of evil mindsets -- "the one that is conspiring, the one falling prey to this conspiracy, and the one selling themselves out and working for that conspiracy".
The fractious Babri Masjid issue dates back to more than a century. A Supreme Court verdict had settled the issue on November 9, 2019, by backing the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya and ruling that an alternative five-acre plot to be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.
Hindus had been contending that the erstwhile Babri Masjid, a three-domed mosque built by or at the behest of Mughal emperor Babur, was erected by the invading Muslim armies after razing the existing Ram temple.
It turned into a legal dispute in 1885 when a mahant went to court seeking permission to build a canopy outside the mosque. The plea was dismissed. In December 1949, unidentified people spirited a Lord Ram idol into the mosque. The structure was destroyed by a large mob of kar sevaks on December 6, 1992.