Temple politics hits fever pitch
LUCKNOW:The 26th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya on Thursday coincides with growing demands by Hindu groups for an ordinance to pave the way for a Ram Temple. The calls for the executive order grew after the Supreme Court declined an early hearing into the Ayodhya land title dispute. Hindu groups have been asking the government to settle the dispute in the temple’s favour without waiting for the court’s verdict.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and ally, the Shiv Sena, have been among groups that have been calling for the ordinance. The calls are likely to intensify after the results of the assembly elections in five states are announced on December 11.
Hindu saints are holding a meeting in Delhi on December 9 for the temple construction.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was among the first to demand the ordinance. Shiv Sena followed suit as its chief, Uddhav Thackeray, travelled to Ayodhya with his family to remind the BJP that it does not take days or months to ink an ordinance.
BJP affiliate, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), held a dharam sabha (religious assembly) in Ayodhya on November 25 and asked Muslims to surrender the land for the temple.
At the assembly, Jagadguru Swami Rambhadracharya said the Centre was thinking about bringing the ordinance. He quoted a senior Union minister telling him on November 23, 2018, that the Centre has been unable to take a decision regarding the ordinance in view of the Election Commission’s code of conduct for the polls in five state. “I feel an ordinance will be brought as they (BJP government) will not betray us,’’ he said. He added the minister asked him to mention the proposed move at this assembly. “…Bhagwat has also assured me that they [the BJP government] will not lose this opportunity.”
The temple votaries believe it is now or never as the BJP has majority governments both at the Centre as well as in Uttar Pradesh, where chief minister Yogi Adityanath has been at the forefront of the temple movement.
Uttar Pradesh’s opposition Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary accused the BJP affiliates of raising the Ayodhya issue repeatedly for political mileage ahead of the 2019 national elections. “People are aware of the truth and their intentions and no communal agenda will work in 2019 polls”.