Ram temple
ment had agreed to give five acre land to the Sunni Waqf Board as directed by the apex court.
The PM lauded people’s faith in the “democratic processes” which was heavily tested during the course of the long-drawn court battle.
“After the verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue came out, the people of India displayed remarkable faith in democratic processes and procedures. I salute the 130 crore people of India,” Modi said.
Modi underlined that his government was guided by ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ and was working for the welfare of every Indian.
Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson and state cabinet minister Srikant Sharma said five-acre land has been allotted to Sunni Central Waqf Board in Dhannipur village located in Sohawal tehsil in Ayodhya district. “The land is located 18 km away from the district headquarter Faizabad, 200 metre away from the highway and has easy access. It’s the best spot for maintaining communal harmony as well as law and order,” he said.
A spokesperson of the UP Sunni Waqf Board said a meeting of the board would be held on February 24 to decide on the government’s offer. The All India Musl i m P e r s o n a l L a w Bo a r d (AIMPLB) and Jamiat Ulema-iHind, which represented the Muslim litigants in the Supreme Court, had rejected the offer to allot five-acre land to Muslims for the mosque.
The Centre issued a gazette notification over setting up of the temple trust. “Trust by the name ‘Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra’ has been registered with its registered office at R-20, Greater Kailash Part -1, New Delhi, 110048,” the notification by ministry of home affairs read.
The timing of the announcement came in for criticism as Delhi is due to go to polls on Saturday.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said it would be incorrect to link the decision of the Union Cabinet with the Delhi assembly elections. “This is the decision taken for the temple in Ayodhya. Nothing to do with Delhi. The whole country is not under elections. Let us not confuse the situation,” he told reporters at the briefing of decisions taken by the Cabinet.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath thanked Modi for announcing the constitution of a trust. “I thank PM Modi for constitution of a trust for construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. This trust will be fully independent and capable of taking all decisions on temple construction. Jai Shri Ram,” he tweeted in Hindi.
Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said the apex court had given a historic decision on the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. “It was mandatory for the government to implement the decision. I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking steps to implement the court’s decision,” Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut tweeted Thackeray as saying.