New Delhi: The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has stepped up the pressure on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to deliver on the promise of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya soon. The VHP’s Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal met on 19-20 June in Haridwar and passed a resolution that will now be submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The VHP has also appealed to the Chief Justice of India that a verdict in the Ram Temple case should be delivered at the earliest, asking him to keep a check on “anti-Ram elements” who have been “creating hurdles” in the judicial process.
The resolution said it is an issue of “national importance” that has been in the court since 2011, but it seems that it is not on the top agenda of the court.
The VHP’s move comes less than a week after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a seven-foot rosewood statue of Lord Ram in Ayodhya last Friday.
What the resolution states
The resolution passed by the VHP — one of the organisations at the forefront of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement for over 30 years — states that in 1989, the BJP, in its meeting held at Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, had supported the call for the construction of the Ram Temple.
It further recalled that senior BJP leader L.K. Advani had also carried out a Rath Yatra for this from Somnath till Ayodhya. Soon after, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had also courted arrest during kar seva (when people from across the country gathered at Ayodhya ahead of the demolition of the Babri Masjid).
The VHP pointed out that the BJP’s 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto has also made this promise, and the time has come to deliver on it.
“A resolution has been made to remove all obstacles coming in the way of building the Ram Mandir. It is also necessary to materialise it speedily now. The Margdarshak Mandal is confident that the newly-elected central government will take urgent steps in all these directions,” said VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal.
“The country will give the government all enthusiastic cooperation in its works in the interest of the country and society, good governance, nationalism, Hindutva and development of all. It is expected that the government will be able to control the anti-Ram elements too.”
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This pressure was bound to build after the BJP’s massive victory
Very difficult to predict how the apex court will rule on this complex issue. There is also the question of Mediators appointed by the Court to explore the possibilities of an amicable, out of court settlement.