New Delh/Mumbai: The chorus for bringing a law to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya grew louder on Monday following the Supreme Court’s decision to defer hearing on Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case to January.
VHP’s working president Alok Kumar said the apex court’s decision to adjourn the hearing on the case has “fortified” the organisation’s stand that the solution to the Ram Janambhoomi issue is not in eternally waiting for hearing of appeals pending for over seven years.
“We reiterate our request to the Union government to enact a law to clear the way for building a grand temple of Lord Ram at his birthplace in Ayodhya,” Alok Kumar said.
This may be done in the coming winter session of Parliament, the head of the RSS affiliate said, adding that the Hindutva organisation will intensify its campaign for such a legislation if the government does not act.
The organisation has called a two-day ‘Dharam Sansad’, a meeting of seers, on January 31 and February 1 next year to discuss the Ram temple issue. BJP president Amit Shah is also expected to attend the meeting, which will come less than three months before the start of the Lok Sabha polls.
The saffron party has so far not taken a clear stand on the demand for a law but its leaders have pointed out that this is one of the legitimate measures to end the dispute which has been going on in courts for many decades.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that the government has full faith in the court but added that a lot of people in the country want that the hearing on the issue should be completed soon.
BJP’s bickering estranged ally Shiv Sena also stressed that the Ram temple is an issue of faith and demanded that the government come out with an Ordinance soon.
BJP leader Vinay Katiyar alleged that the issue was being delayed “under pressure” from the Congress, which has denied the charge, while Giriraj Singh said Hindus are running out of patience.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, has said earlier in the day that an appropriate bench will decide the future course of hearing in January next year on the Ayodhya land dispute case.
