Country is entering a saffron era: VHP

Hindu Parishad (VHP), an affiliate of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is promoting its Hindutva ideology by holding 5,000 rallies across India, including several across Maharashtra, and seeking support for the contentious Ram temple issue.

The outfit, which recently held three meetings in Thane, Mumbai and Ulhasnagar in the last two days, claimed it received an overwhelming response and said that it will keep up until it achieves its goal.

“I think Yogi and Modi is a rare combination, which will never happen again. We have been demanding an amendment to the law to ensure that a temple is built on the disputed land. An amicable solution between Hindu organisations and representatives from the Muslim community seems impossible. Also, the Supreme Court’s decision [out-of-court settlement] could be challenged by the losing side. Hence, we are seeking government’s intervention,” said Surendra Jain, joint general secretary, VHP.

He added, “We must realise that the country is entering a saffron era, with overwhelming support from the youth. With our ideology finding support at the Centre, we expect the actual construction work for the temple will begin in the next year.”

However, political pundits said that neither the BJP nor the RSS is interested in building the temple, and are just trying to gain political mileage by raking up the issue.

“If the BJP government is serious about the temple, then what has stopped it from building it? Why are they resorting to the street fights over the issue? They are only milking it for their political benefit,” said journalist and political analyst Dnyanesh Maharav.