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Ram temple construction on RSS annual meet agenda as SC order fuels anger against BJP

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There’s a lot of resentment in RSS and its affiliates over BJP’s failure to build Ram temple. The RSS brass will be meeting for three days in Thane beginning 31 Oct.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s decision to postpone the hearing on the Ram temple title suit has not gone down well with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with some voices raising the spectre of 1992 to push for an ordinance.

On Monday, a three-judge bench of the top court deferred till next year the hearing on pleas against the Allahabad High Court’s 2010 trifurcation order for the disputed plot.

Sources said the Ram temple issue is likely to dominate discussions at the upcoming pre-Diwali meeting of the RSS brass in Thane. The annual event, popularly known as the ‘Diwali baithak’, where RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and other top functionaries ideate on ‘contemporary issues’, is scheduled for 31 October-2 November.

A senior RSS pracharak said the Diwali meeting had always served as a platform to discuss the raging issues of the day, besides conducting a review of the performance of the Sangh and its affiliates.

“The Ram temple issue will be discussed at this meeting in detail, along with issues like expansion of the Sangh,” the functionary added.

Invoking Bhagwat’s Vijayadashmi address, where he sought a law for the construction of the Ram temple, the pracharak said: “Considering that the sarsanghchalak raked up the issue of [an] ordinance and law on Ram temple, we believe the Sangh will ensure that a decision on temple construction is taken so.

“How to do it is likely to be taken up for discussion,” added the RSS functionary.


Also read: How a delay in Ram temple hearing could help or harm BJP’s 2019 poll prospects


Resentment in the ranks

There has been a lot of resentment among the Sangh and its affiliates over the BJP’s failure to construct the temple, a key manifesto promise in 2014, despite being at the head of a majority government.

While the Sangh has always been at the forefront of demands for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, at a site believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram, the Supreme Court’s postponement order has triggered open threats of a 1992 repeat from RSS members.

In December 1992, hundreds of kar sewaks had descended on Ayodhya to raze a masjid built at the site under the Mughal emperor Babar, triggering riots across the country that killed hundreds.

“The court is once again trying to create/repeat 1992, when kar sewaks were waiting for court decision and court was busy coining the words like ‘symbolic kar sewa’,” tweeted Rajiv Tuli, the face of the RSS in Delhi.

RSS chief Bhagwat seemingly struck a similar note a month ago at a book launch in Delhi that was also attended by BJP president Amit Shah. Speaking about the Ram temple at the event, Bhagwat said intellectuals could be calmed and pacified with arguments, but “what about people in villages, as they won’t listen to arguments”.

Union minister Giriraj Singh, who is known for his penchant for provocative remarks, has said that the patience of Hindus is running out and expressed his “fears” about the possible consequences.

RSS chief spokesperson Arun Kumar, too, has called for a law to clear the way for the construction of the Ram temple.

“The government should bring legislation to remove the obstacles and hand over the Ram janmasthan bhoomi to Shri Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas,” Kumar said. “We have supported all the decisions of pujya sant (respectable seers) and the dharma sansad (religious assembly) regarding the movement to build construction of temple and will do also in future.”

Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) working international president Alok Kumar voiced a similar demand. “If laws can be brought on Sabarimala and other issues, why is the court delaying the Ram temple issue?

“People are growing restless now,” he added, “If the winter session [of Parliament] does not see a law on the temple, the dharam sansad in January will decide whatever it deems fit to ensure construction,” Kumar added.


Also read: BJP allies react with unease as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat calls for law to build Ram temple


The BJP MLA for Chikkamagaluru in Karanataka, C.T. Ravi, has claimed that the Ram temple will be built at “any cost”, saying the movement of “reclaiming” temples will not stop at Ayodhya.

“#AyodhyaRamtemple will be built at any cost by @BJP4India to fulfill the wishes of 130 crore Indians,” he tweeted. “All obstacles will be overcome & those who oppose the long awaited dream of Hindus will be exposed before Nation. We will not stop at Ayodhya only we will reclaim every Temple.”

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