Streets get saffron hue as 1.5L gather from across the country
NEWDELHI: Residents around Ramlila Ground woke up to “shankhnaad” and chants of “Jai Shri Ram” in the background as aroud 1.5 lakh people reportedly gathered on Sunday to demand a Ram Temple at the disputed Ramjanambhoomi-babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.
At the mega rally called the “Dharmik Sabha”, organised by the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), demands of an ordinance to build a temple were raised. The Ram JanambhoomiBabri Masjid title dispute is currently in the Supreme Court.
The rally began at 8am. Saffron-clad crowds, men, women and children, poured onto the streets from buses, the Metro and autorickshaws and headed to the famous Ramlila Ground in central Delhi. Some even came by chariots, the vehicle used by Lord Ram in the war to defeat Ravana.
People in the area said the roads looked as if they were painted saffron.
A supporter from Maharashtra, Panduranga Makranda, claims to have been a supporter for over two decades. He said that he lost his teeth and fractured his skull during face-offs with security forces while protesting for the temple a few years ago.
“I am a sculptor and I can build the temple for my Lord. I am carrying all the tools and material with me right now,” he said.
As the crowd swelled at the ground, the air was thick with the slogans “
It is the holy land of Lord Ram and we will go to any extent to get our god his temple. We (Hindus) will have to take matters into their own hands if our demands are not met.
DEV RAJ TRIPATHY, a participant
“ and
Many in the crowd were seen wielding swords, maces and trishuls.
“It is the holy land of Lord Ram and we will go to any extent to get our god his temple. We (Hindus) will have to take matters into their own hands if our demands are not met,” said Dev Raj Tripathy, a priest who had come from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur.
VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said that all “true Hindus” of India wanted a temple in Ayodhya, believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. “The government must give the people what they want,” Bansal said. The right-wing group claimed that close to 1.5 lakh supporters turned up for the rally.
Although the BJP did not officially participate in the rally, several of its senior leaders were seen sharing the dais with the organisers in their “personal capacity”. BJP MPS from Delhi Meenakshi Lekhi, Ramesh Bidhuri, Parvesh Sahib Singh, and leader of opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta were seen at the event.
“I am here as a Hindu, not as a politician. I am here just like lakhs of others are,” Lekhi said.
Thirteen-year-old Prayag Singh Rajput from Haryana had no idea when the Babri mosque was demolished and what led to these developments. But he, along with around a dozen class- mates, were at the forefront of the crowd demanding the construction of a temple.
“We are proud Hindus and this is a Hindu Rashtra. We want to know what is stopping the government from ordering the temple’s construction. When the people of India are with you, then why worry?” the Class 8 student said.
Even after the rally ended, supporters took out a “bhagwa dhwaj yatra” where a continuous piece of saffron cloth was spread across kilometres to “spread the message of Lord Ram”.
Traders in the Muslim-dominated areas around Ramlila Maidan kept their shops closed on Sunday, following an advisory by the police. Delhi Police officials said the decision was not forced on the market association. However, senior officials agreed that the measure was taken to ensure that there was no communal flare up during the rally.
“The shop owners voluntarily decided to keep their shops shut. It is a practice usually adopted whenever such huge rallies are organised at Ramlila Maidan,” said a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity
Mohammad Mian Baksh, a shop owner at Ajmeri Gate, said, “We were told by the police that over a lakh people will gather at the grounds today (Sunday) and said it would be in our interest to keep our shops closed,” Baksh.