Nagpur: In his last Vijayadashami address before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat demanded a law to be framed to allow the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.
“Lord Ram is the symbol of India. His temple should be built through whatever means necessary. Government should frame a law and build the Ram Temple. That is our demand," Bhagwat said in his speech on Thursday morning.
“The Hindu community has for several years been waiting for the grand Ram temple. Unfortunate attempts have been made only to delay this process. We don’t want any more delays," Bhagwat said.
Bhagwat has several times in the past said in no uncertain terms that a Ram Temple will come up on the disputed site very soon, but it is the first time that he’s publicly made this demand in his Vijayadashami speech, considered a policy document for the Sangh cadre, from the Narendra Modi-led government.
Bhagwat said that he was often asked why the Sangh was so adamant on constructing the temple. To this, he responded by saying that “Babar was the enemy of the Indian people. It was to destroy the pride and self-respect of Indians that he demolished the Ram Temple… Guru Nanak has also claimed this. Ram is our lord who guides our country. So [to revive the self-pride] we need to build it."
The RSS chief has made this demand at a time when a substantial chunk of influential Hindu priests in and around Ayodhya have put the government on notice on Ram Temple issue.
In June this year, the chief priest of Ram Janmabhoomi Temple, Acharya
Satyendra Das, gave a stern warning to the BJP, saying that if they do not build the temple and dump the issue completely, the party will not come back to power in the next year's general elections.
Earlier this month, a number of priests, including those from Tapasvi Chavni temple in Ayodhya, went on an indefinite hunger strike in Ayodhya demanding immediate construction of the grand temple.
Last year, on the anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition, senior VHP leaders issued a deadline – December 6, 2018 – by when temple construction in Ayodhya was to be started.
It is in this light that Bhagwat made another statement on Thursday. “In this issue, whatever steps our holy men decide to take, we are with them," he said.
All eyes will now be not just on the three-judge bench hearing Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit dispute which will begin on October 29, but also on the upcoming winter Parliamentary session beginning December 16.
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