Ram temple trust to meet on February 19 in Delhi

On February 5, the Union Cabinet announced formation of the trust, meeting a three-month deadline set by the SC, which in November awarded a disputed plot of land in the holy city to Hindu claimants who believe the site marks the birthplace of the revered god.

The first ‘informal’ meeting of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, set up to oversee the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, will be held on February 19 in New Delhi, said Kameshwar Choupal, the lone Dalit member in the 15-member trust.

FILE- In this Nov. 11, 2019 file photo, a Hindu woman devotee prays to the bricks reading "Shree Ram" ( Lord Ram), which are expected to be used in constructing the Ram temple, in Ayodhya, India. India’s Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed petitions seeking a review of its recent ruling in favor of the building of a Hindu temple on a disputed site in northern India where a 16th century mosque was torn down by Hindu hard-liners in 1992.. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File) (AP file photo for representation)

“The first informal meeting, a kind of a get-together of the members of the trust, has been summoned for February 19 in New Delhi at the residence of the senior-most member in the trust, K Parasaran.”

According to Choupal, the purpose of the meeting was to enable all the members to discuss the key points pertaining to the construction of the temple.

On February 5, the Union Cabinet announced formation of the trust, meeting a three-month deadline set by the Supreme Court, which in November awarded a disputed plot of land in the holy city to Hindu claimants who believe the site marks the birthplace of the revered god.

The decision, acclaimed by allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led government and Hindu religious figures, was announced in the Lok Sabha by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in line with a court directive that a scheme be prepared before February 9 to form such a trust and the land be transferred to it for the temple’s construction.

At the same time, an alternative plot of 5 acres to be given to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Wakf Board has been identified and was approved by the UP state cabinet on Wednesday for the construction of a mosque. It was not clear if the Sunni Waqf Board would accept the land, situated in Dhannipur village in Sohawal tehsil of Ayodhya district.

“I am happy to share with my fellow Indians that important decisions have been taken with regard to Ram Janmabhoomi. These are in line with the verdict of the Honourable Supreme Court of India,” Modi had said in Parliament to chants of Jai Shri Ram by members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) .

Speaking over the phone from Patna, Choupal said: “I was the one who had laid the first ‘Ram Shila (brick)’ at the shilanyas on November 9, 1989. The Dharm-Sansad held at Prayag before the shilanyas had mandated that a Dalit would lay the first brick and I was named to do so. And I did. I was then a member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Currently, I am a member in a national body of VHP.”

Other members of the trust are senior lawyer K Parasaran, Jagatguru Shankracharya Jyothishpeethadheeshwar Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati Ji Maharaj from Prayagraj, Jagatguru Madhavacharya Swami Vishwa Prasannatheerth Ji Maharaj of Pejawar Math in Udupi, Yugpurush Paramanand Ji Maharaj from Haridwar, Swami Govinddev Giri Ji Maharaj from Pune and Vimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra, who is also known as ‘Ayodhya naresh’, from Ayodhya, Anil Mishra, a homoeopathic doctor from Ayodhya, and Mahant Dinendra Das, Nirmohi Akhara, Ayodhya Baithak.

Prabhat Singh, a spokesperson of the Nirmohi Akhara, said, “The first meeting of the trust is likely to take place in New Delhi. Unofficially, we have been informed about the meeting. But we have not received any official letter related with the meeting.”