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Temple work should begin in March: VHP
New Delhi
New Delhi
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has urged the Centre to expedite the formation of the trust that will monitor the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya so that the construction work can begin on March 25, to coincide with the Hindu festival of Navratra.
It has also urged people to organise shobha yatras on April 2, on the occasion of Ram Navami, to celebrate the Supreme Court verdict that paved the way for the construction of the temple after a protracted legal battle.
While pronouncing the Ramjanamabhoomi verdict on November 9, the Supreme Court had said that the disputed 2.7 acres of land be handed over to a trust formed by the union home ministry to monitor the temple construction. The government was duty-bound to announce the trust within three months of the judgment.
On Wednesday, VHP’s international working president Alok Kumar said the organisation that was at the forefront of the movement has made a request to the government to announce the composition of the trust in January itself.
“We have requested that the construction work should coincide with the Navrataras and that the government should include those saints and leaders who were part of the movement in the trust,” he said.
He said the VHP has not named any individual or organisation in their request to the government; but reiterated that those led the movement should not be left out. The court had said the trust should include representatives of the central and state governments and the Nirmohi Akhara.
The VHP leader also said that they have urged the trust (that is yet to be formed) to include a provision for people to donate funds for the temple construction. “The trust can decide a token amount that can be paid per family; but the construction should be paid for from such donations,” Kumar said.
A fourth demand that has been put forth by the VHP is that the government should not go back to the drawing board so far as the temple’s architecture is concerned. “We want the model that has been prepared to be used,” he said. On whether the space as envisaged in the model that was designed in the 1980s will suffice, Kumar said, “We have been told that the size of the garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum) of the model we have presented is bigger than that of the Somnath Temple (in Gujarat) so there will be no space crunch.”
While the RSS had urged people to refrain from organising large scale celebrations following the SC verdict in order to prevent clashes between communities, it now wants grand celebrations.
“Earlier in November (when the verdict came) people could not celebrate, so they must take out yatras with the pictures of the temple, Lord Ram and Valmiki to celebrate the occasion,” Kumar said.
