VHP, Sena take Ram temple issue to another level today
Wake up from Kumbhakarna sleep, declare date for Ram temple construction: Uddhav
All eyes are set on the massive congregation organised by the RSS-affiliated Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Ayodhya on Sunday to listen to the Hindu saints in what is billed as a "Dharma Sabha" that will issue a "Dharmadesh" for the construction of the Ram Temple in the holy town where the historic Babri Mosque stood until December 6. 1992.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has also reached Ayodhya with his son and supporters for a parallel show to press for the government to immediately start construction of the grand temple of Lord Ram. Uddhav asked the Modi government to wake up from a “Kumbhakarna-like slumber” and declare the date for its construction. “I have come here to awaken the Kumbhakarana,” he said, indirectly comparing Modi, or his government, to the Ramayana character known for sleeping for months at a stretch. “Today's Kumbhakarna has been sleeping for the past four years," he said.He urged the government to bring legislation or an ordinance for construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying his party will support it. “Day, months, years and generations have passed,” he said Saturday on what he described as his first visit to the town. “Mandir wahin baneyange, par date nahin batayenge (You say you will make the temple there, but won't tell the date),” he said.
“First say when you will construct the temple, the rest we will talk later,” he said in what sounded like a dare to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government. In a veiled attack on BJP over the Ram temple issue, Shiv Sena on Saturday said that those talking about it had kept Lord Ram in "exile" in Ayodhya, despite being in power at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh.
Everyone wanting the Ram Temple, however, is not on the board of the VHP''s event. The apex body of the Hindu saints in India, the all India Akhanda Parisahd, is not expected to join the 3-day event in Ayodhya.
Spearheaded by the Shakaracharya of Dwarkapeeth, Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, the assembly of the saints will discuss all issued related to the Sanatan Dharma, including the Ram Temple, followed by a ''Dharmadesh.''
The Shakaracharya is critical of BJP, accusing it of causing "the biggest damage to the ideals of Hinduism in recent years." Only recently, he told the Modi government at the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh not to meddle in the Ayodhya temple issue but to leave its construction to the saints.