Ayodhya Dispute: RSS, VHP, Shiv Sena Call For Ram Temple Ordinance as SC Adjourns Hearing Till Jan 2019

Sangh activists said either to the media or on social media that the time had come for a repeat of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement of 1992.

New Delhi: The chorus for an Ordinance on construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya after the Supreme Court postponed the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute cases for the first week of January next year before an appropriate bench, which will decide the schedule of hearing.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) urged the Centre to bring in a law to ensure the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. “It is time to bring in an Ordinance. Construction of Ram Temple will assure harmony,” the RSS said in a statement.

Business Standard quoted Sangh activists saying either to the media or on social media that the time had come for a repeat of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement of 1992.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has already asked the Modi government to bring in an ordinance/legislation.

Meanwhile, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said Hindus cannot wait eternally for a court judgement on the Ayodhya land dispute case and asked the government to bring a law for building a Ram temple.

Its working president Alok Kumar urged the Narendra Modi government to bring a legislation in the Winter Session.

“The Supreme Court has once again adjourned the hearing. This fortifies the VHP’s stand that the solution to the Ram Janambhoomi issue is not in eternally waiting for hearing of appeals pending for over seven years. We reiterate our request to the Union government to enact a law to clear the way for building a grand temple of Lord Ram at his birthplace in Ayodhya,” Kumar told PTI.

This may be done in the coming winter session of Parliament, the head of the RSS affiliate said, adding that the Hindutva organisation will intensify its campaign for such a legislation if the government does not act.

The organisation has called a two-day ‘Dharam Sansad’, a meeting of seers, on January 31 and February 1 next year to discuss the Ram temple issue. This will be held on the sidelines of the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad.

Soon after the SC adjourning the Ayodhya case, Shiv Sena also said it backed the demand for the Centre to issue an ordinance in the matter.

Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that the onus was on the BJP to prove themselves in the Ram Temple case. He also said that party chief Uddhav Thackeray will be going to Ayodhya on November 25.

Addressing party workers in Mumbai earlier this month, Thackeray said he was saddened that Ram Mandir had not been built yet and added that he would be visiting Ayodhya on November 25. Sounding out a warning to all those who thought Hindutva had died, Thackeray said, “We are still alive.”

Shia Waqf Board chairperson Wasin Rizvi also sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to request him to take the ordinance route for the construction of Ram temple. He also exuded confidence that the Babri Masjid representatives will face defeat when the court pronounces its verdict next year.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh said Hindus are running out of patience on the Ram temple issue. “Shri Ram” is the cornerstone of the faith of the Hindus, he said.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said the appropriate bench will decide the future course of hearing in January next year on the appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case.

“We will fix the date of hearing of the Ayodhya dispute case before the appropriate bench in January,” the bench, which also comprised Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, said.

Earlier, a three judge bench, by a 2:1 majority, refused to refer to a five-judge constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgement that a mosque was not integral to Islam. The matter had arisen during the hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute.

An apex court bench headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the civil suit has to be decided on the basis of evidence, adding that the previous verdict has no relevance to this issue.

The bench had fixed the batch of appeals for final hearing today.

As many as 14 appeals have been filed against the high court judgement, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77 acres of land be partitioned equally among three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.