New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, one of the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case, Saturday sought to make a conciliatory gesture after the Ayodhya verdict of the Supreme Court, saying it is the victory of every Indian and not just Hindus.
“This is a victory of every Indian. Ram is not confined to Hindus only and Ayodhya belongs to everyone,” Joshi told ThePrint.
The court-mandated government trust to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya should have a “bharatiya” composition, which means it should have representation from all communities, added Joshi.
One of the key architects of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Joshi has been living in political oblivion since the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah combine took charge of the BJP in 2014. He was also dropped from the BJP parliamentary board, the decision-making body of the party.
Joshi is facing a criminal trial in a Lucknow court in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case.
In its unanimous verdict Saturday paving the way for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Supreme Court said the trust should be set up by the central government within three months.
The Muslims, the court said, should be given 5 acres of land elsewhere in Ayodhya to construct a mosque. A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, also indicated that the disputed site is for the Hindu parties.
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‘Crisis of identity’
Among key players in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, it’s not just Joshi who commented on the Ayodhya verdict.
OBC leader Vinay Katiyar, who was an MP from Faizabad when Babri Masjid was demolished, said, “We are accepting the decision with grace.”
He said, “I was saying this for the last two decades this was the birthplace of Ram but many political parties with communist mindset played politics over it. They will now face a crisis of identity.”
The construction of the Ram temple will start soon, added Katiyar, who once served as BJP’s Uttar Pradesh chief.
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