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RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to address the nation after SC’s Ayodhya verdict
Ayodhya Verdict: The construction of a temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, where the Babri Mosque stood till its demolition in 1992, has been a long-standing demand of the RSS and its affiliates.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat will address the nation after the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict on the decades-old Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi title suit on Saturday.
Bhagwat, who is in Delhi, will deliver his address from the RSS office in central Delhi’s Jhandewalan area at 1pm. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed for calm ahead of the verdict as security has been beefed in Uttar Pradesh especially in Ayodhya and other states. School and colleges are shut in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi and prohibitory orders have been clamped in several places across the country.
Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological parent, the RSS, have asked their leaders and cadre to maintain calm and refrain from making inflammatory or emotive speeches in the wake of the verdict. They have also been cautioned against large-scale celebrations, should the verdict be in their favour. The RSS has already directed its cadre to not respond to the verdict, a functionary familiar with the matter said.
SC to deliver verdict in Ayodhya case: Follow updates here
The construction of a temple at the disputed site, where the Babri Mosque stood till its demolition in 1992, has been a long-standing demand of the RSS and its affiliates. “There will be no grand celebrations or parades if the verdict is in our favour nor will there be protests if it is not. We will not stop people from celebrating at their homes or localities but there is no call for a large-scale celebration,” the functionary said on condition of anonymity.
According to the RSS member, the outfit’s members have been told that in case the verdict does not match the Sangh’s expectations, there was also the option of petitioning the government to take the legislative route to ensure the temple’s construction.
The five-judge Supreme Court completed the hearing in the decades-old case on October 16 after marathon 40 daily hearings as the mediation bid by the court failed to bear fruit.
