Hyderabad: BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Sunday said the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya was a matter of faith for Hindus and that there could be no compromise on this issue.
He was addressing a public talk on 'Building Sri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya Through Legal Framework' organised by Virat Hindustan Sangam in Hyderabad.
"The Ram temple issue is very important for our (Hindus’) existence and identity and there can be no compromise on this. I would like to tell you that Ram Mandir will be built at any cost and it will be built at the place where he (Lord Ram) was born and where 'pran prathistha puja' (consecration) has taken place,” he said.
"In a petition filed in the Supreme Court, I had said it was my fundamental right to pray to Ram. It is our faith that Ram was born there and hence the 'mandir' (temple) will come up only at that place...no one can question it," said Swamy.
He said it had been proven by the experts of the Archaeological Survey of India that there existed a temple at that site. "Babri Masjid was built on the place where Ram was born and after demolishing the Ram Mandir, the Babri Masjid was constructed," claimed Swamy.
"In 1994, the then Narasimha Rao government in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court had submitted that if it was proved that there was a mandir before the mosque came up at that place, all the land would be given to Hindus. Now I told (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi to cite this thing and give the land to Hindus,” he said.
“Masjid is only a place to read namaz and it can be read anywhere, but our temples, wherein once pran prathistha puja is done, it will forever remain a mandir," Swamy claimed.
The saffron leader claimed that there have been instances where mosques have been demolished for road development works and shifted to other places in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The Supreme Court will take up the case on the Ram temple issue soon, he said.
"I will request to take up the matter on a day-to-day basis hearing and if it is done we will win the case in four months by Diwali. Now it is for the government and the Solicitor General to inform the Court that Swamy's fundamental right plea is correct. Ram Mandir will be definitely built by 2018," said the Rajya Sabha MP.
There is a need for Hindus to get united, Swamy stressed. On Kashmir issue, he said, "If Pakistan attacks India, its existence will be over and it will be divided into four parts."
