The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), reiterating its demand for a new law for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, has put the onus of that move entirely on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led governments at the Centre and Uttar Pradesh.
Upping the ante on its demand, the VHP will convene a meeting of saints in Haridwar between May 31 and June 2 with the sole agenda of discussing the temple issue.
“We will be calling a meeting of sants in Haridwar in June, but no Dharma Sansad [the original congress of saints that first passed a resolution for a Ram Temple in Ayodhya in 1984] will again discuss the issue till we can see the beginning of the construction process,” said VHP president Praveen Togadia.
He said VHP workers would raise the demand for the construction of the temple in 5,000 places across the country between April 1 and 16 during nationwide Ram Mahostsav celebrations.
Constitutional route
“We want a Constitutional route to temple construction, which can only be done through the three ‘P’s — the Prime Minister, Parliament and the people,” Mr. Togadia said.
He added that the template for the construction of the temple would be based on the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple after independence. “The statements and conversations that went on between Sardar Patel, Babu Rajendra Prasad and K.M. Munshi is instructive in this regard,” he said.
Last week the Supreme Court had suggested an out-of-court settlement to the dispute between the parties involved. While the BJP had welcomed the move, the VHP had released a statement sticking to its demand for a law that would enable the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Palampur resolution
On Saturday, Mr. Togadia refused to make any personal comments on Prime Minister Modi or Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Instead he frequently invoked the BJP’s Palampur resolution of 1986, when the party had decided to support the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, the fact that the issue has appeared in every BJP manifesto for the Centre and U.P. since and the role of Yogi Adityanath’s guru, Mahant Avaidyanath, who was at the helm of the movement.
“The BJP passed this resolution two years after the Dharma Sansad held its first meeting at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. And it has been mentioned in every BJP manifesto after the 1986 Palampur resolution. We hope that Prime Minister Modi, and the BJP will remember their resolve,” he said. “Mahant Avaidyanath, Ramkrishna Paramhans (of the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas) and Ashok Singhalji all departed the world without seeing the temple, we hope Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath will make it possible,” he added.
