Took 17 min to pull down Babri Masjid: Shiv Sena’s Raut pitches for temple law

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday upped the pressure on the BJP-led national coalition for an ordinance to build a Ram temple.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday upped the pressure on the BJP-led national coalition for an ordinance to build a Ram temple. “It took only around 17 minutes for us - the Ram bhakts - to bring down the Babri Masjid... So, how long should it take to bring an ordinance?” Sanjay Raut told news agency ANI, scaling the rhetoric to demand for an executive order to build the temple.

Indian youths take part in a procession organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to mark 'Shaurya Diwas', the 25th anniversary of the demolition of the 16th century Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. (AFP file photo for representation)

The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the BJP’s ideological mentor, has already joined the chorus from Hindu groups for an ordinance to build the temple rather than wait for a ruling from the Supreme Court that is set to start holding the last round of hearings in the case from early next year.

The government, however, has not articulated a firm stand on the demand.

The Sena leader’s statement comes just a day ahead of the first-ever show of strength in Ayodhya organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. This is expected to be the largest congregation in Ayodhya since 6 December 1992 when the 16th century mosque was demolished by a mob. A decade later again, Ayodhya had seen thousands of people in March 2002 when carved stone pillars for a proposed Ram temple on the site were handed over to an emissary of the central government in a symbolic move.

Sanjay Raut underlined that there was no reason why the ruling BJP could not enact the law.

“From Rashtrapati Bhavan to Uttar Pradesh’s Vidhan Sabha, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party that is in power,” he said. At a media conference earlier, Raut had argued that the law would get support from non-BJP lawmakers too.

More than 400 members of Parliament cutting across party lines will support ordinance for the construction of Ram temple, Raut told a media conference in Ayodhya where he has been camping for days to prep for party boss, Uddhav Thackeray.

The effort to scale up the demand for an ordinance is seen as an effort to set the tone for elections in five states this year and the Lok Sabha polls that follow. The demand for a law is a departure from the earlier narrative of waiting for a judicial solution to the dispute.