The BJP has never shied away from owning the Ram Janmabhoomi movement since the demolition of the Babri structure on December 6, 1992, but this kind of Muslim support had eluded it until recently
New Delhi:‘Let a grand Ram temple be built in Ayodhya’ is no longer a plea of hardline Hindutvaelements or the ruling BJP. Atleast four prominent minority organisations are demanding the same. All of them have now approached the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) urging it to step in and “pro-actively” take a stand to ensure that the Ram Mandir coveted by many becomes a reality. So much so that the NCM had to convene a meeting of the commission on Wednesday.
Sources say the agenda was to explore the feasibility of passing a resolution asking for a quick hearing in the Ram Mandir title suit. Finding it unfeasible, the commission didn’t ask for an earlier hearing of the matter. However, it did pass a resolution asking the judiciary, legislature and executive to “amicably settle the dispute”. It has also stated that all political parties should wait for the verdict of the Supreme Court on the matter and respect it.
Confirming the news to MyNation, commission chairperson Syed Ghayurul Hasan Rizvi said, “There was a demand from many minority organisations that the commission (NCM) should take an active stand on this. But we can’t act like that. We have to act within the scope of the Constitution. But it’s a fact that around four to five Muslim organisations have approached us asking us to demand that Ram Temple be allowed to be constructed at the earliest so that the inter-religious tension is eased out”.
MyNation has very reliably learnt that around 150 members of a Muslim organisation by the name of Minority Development of India went to meet the chairperson on November 12 and demanded that the NCM ensure that the Ram Mandir is constructed at the earliest at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
Rizvi said, “Their (Minority Development of India) logic was that Lord Rama’s idol is anyway inside the disputed site and a temple, albeit a makeshift one, is there. So it’s logical that the Ram temple is constructed there and the age-old animosity is done away with, they felt.” So much so, the organisation has given it in writing to the commission.
The Ram Mandir has been a consistent demand of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad for decades. Since December 6, 1992, when the Babri mosque was forcibly brought down by karsevaks in front of the top BJP leadership including Lal Krishna Advani, Uma Bharti and Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP never shied away from demanding a grand Ram temple on the disputed site. But it did not enjoythe popular support of minority organisations — with the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board being one of the petitioners objecting to the temple — as it does now.
But in recent times, Uttar Pradesh’s Shia Waqf Board went on record to demand the temple, reasoning that the mosque could be built across River Saryu. Its chairmanWaseem Rizvi was quoted in July this year as saying, “There was never a mosque on that site in Ayodhya and there can never be a mosque there. It is the birthplace of Lord Rama and only a Ram temple will be built. Sympathisers of Babar are destined to lose.”
But with Muslim organisations now openly demanding what sants (Hindu ascetics) have urged the BJP to do in a recently concluded two-day long conclave in New Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium, the ruling party and its cadre are upbeat. This may be a crucial factor when the Supreme Court hears the matter in January. Chief Justice RanjanGogoihas, as of now, put the issue on the backburner, irking BJP’s core voter base.
Will the Ram temple be a reality before 2019? That’s a tough question to answer. But is there a growing public outcry in the demand for the same — includingfrom Muslims? The answer is an emphatic yes.
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