Author: PTI
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: September 30, 2010
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/286761/VHP-welcomes-Ayodhya-verdict-demands-temple-in-entire-area.html
Welcoming the Allahabad High Court verdict
on the Ayodhya title issue, VHP claimed on Thursday that the ruling has established
without doubt that the place where Ram's idol was existing was the birthplace
of the Lord.
Addressing the media here after the verdict
was out, VHP international general secretary Pravin Togadia, however, demanded
that a Ram temple should be built in the total area that comprises the (formerly)
disputed area as well as the land acquired by the Central government.
"We salute and welcome the judgement
of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. It has now been established
that the place where Ram's idol was existing was the birth place of the Lord.
At least faith of one billion Hindus that Lord Ram was born here was also
endorsed by the judiciary," he said.
While appealing all to maintain peace and
calm, he said "At the same time, our saints have clarified that the 110X90
feet (formerly disputed area) and 67 acres acquired land both are part of
the birth place of Lord Ram and we hope that a grand temple will be built
in this total area".
When told that the court ruled by a majority
verdict that the disputed land in Ayodhya be divided equally into three parts
among Hindus and Muslims and if the VHP was consonance with this, Togadia
said "the court has accepted the site as the birth place of Lord Ram.
It has permitted puja to be performed.
"Moreover, the court has rejected the
claim of the Sunni Wakf Board that the disputed place be declared a mosque.
I don't think anything more needs to be said on that".
Asked repeatedly if this meant that the VHP
only accepted the court verdict partly, he said the contentious issue of the
110x90 feet area of the site has been cleared and the organisation would speak
further after going through the copy of the judgement thoroughly.
Claiming that after the verdict the "Wakf
Board does not have any locus standi over the land", Togadia appealed
to the people of all sections of society to ensure that a Ram temple is built.
To a question on any target set by the VHP
on the temple construction, he said Rs 1.25 per person was collected for the
Ram Janmabhoomi movement since the 1980s, which summed up to over Rs 88 crore.
"Of this amount, Rs 24 crore worth carved
stones are ready and almost 60 per cent of the work is over. Once we get complete
clearance, we will galvanise people for the temple construction," he
said.
Senior VHP leader Giriraj Kishore said, "this
is an opportunity for Muslims to forget the past and start (relations) afresh."
"The judgement is indeed a cause for
great delight for the entire Hindu community. It is also a historic opportunity
for the Hindus and the Muslims to come together and join hands in building
a strong nation," VHP international president Ashok Singhal told reporters
in Allahabad.
He said a meeting of saints' committee, held
immediately after the pronouncement of the verdict, has "welcomed the
High Court judgement whereby it has been ruled that worship of Lord Ram at
the Janmabhoomi would continue unhindered".
"We hold the view that Hindus have every
right to celebrate the occasion but this must be done in a sober and dignified
manner. Moreover, we would not like to look at the judgement in terms of victory
or defeat of either party as this is not an occasion to belittle each other,"
Singhal said.
The VHP leader also appealed to the Muslim
community "to come forward and join hands with the Hindus in building
a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya. This is a historic occasion which presents
both the communities with a unique opportunity to come together and build
a strong nation".
Singhal asked the Centre to facilitate the
construction of a temple by handing over the 70 acres of land around the disputed
site in Ayodhya acquired by it in the 1990s as "the High Court has come
out with its verdict on only 130X90 feet of land which is just big enough
for building a sanctum sanctorum and not a grand temple befitting the glory
of Ram".
"We believe that while acquiring the
70 acres of land, the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao must have had
this fact in mind. We are confident that the current regime will do the needful
in this regard. There are Hindus in all political parties and none of them
would like to see their revered deity being worshipped in a decrepit make-shift
structure," he said.
In their separate judgements on the sensitive
60-year old title dispute on Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid structure, Justices
S U Khan and Sudhir Agarwal said that the area under the central dome of the
three-domed structure where Lord Ram's idol exists belongs to Hindus.
The majority in the three-judge Lucknow bench
also ruled that status quo should be maintained at the disputed place for
three months.
Justices Khan and Agarwal decreed that the
2.7 acre land comprising the disputed site should be divided three equal parts
and be given to Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and the party representing
'Ram Lala Virajman' (Ram deity).
