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Now, Muslims should stop opposing Ram Mandir: Nritya Gopal Das
Welcoming the Supreme Court ruling that declined to set up a larger bench to revisit a 1994 verdict which held that mosque is not essential to Islam, Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das on Thursday said Muslims should now stop opposing construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Welcoming the Supreme Court ruling that declined to set up a larger bench to revisit a 1994 verdict which held that mosque is not essential to Islam, Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das on Thursday said Muslims should now stop opposing construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas has been at the forefront of the Ayodhya movement.
“Construction of temple is just a matter of time. After the Supreme Court’s verdict, Muslims must set aside their opposition to Ram Mandir and become facilitators in temple construction,” said Nritya Gopal, who also heads the Mani Ram Das Chawni Peeth in Ayodhya.
“If the Supreme Court has decided the issue (Ismail Faruqui ruling) then the Modi government must take immediate steps for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya without any further delay,” he said.
In a 2:1 majority verdict, the apex court on Thursday ruled that the 1994 Ismail Faruqui case would not be referred to a larger bench clearing the way for hearing of the main Ayodhya title suit.
In the M Ismail Faruqui case in 1994, the Supreme Court had ruled that mosque was not essential for worship in Islam and hence its acquisition (by the state) was not prohibited by the provisions of the Constitution.
Some appellants in the Ayodhya title suit case had pleaded that the place of a mosque in Islam and the importance of offering prayers inside a mosque should be first decided by a five-judge bench. According to them, this question should be answered before the court looks into the main Ayodhya title dispute.
Issuing an appeal to Muslims, member of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Mahant Suresh Das said: “A mosque is not essential for worship in Islam but statues of gods and goddesses are integral part of temples. Muslims should now realise this fact after the apex court’s verdict and help us in the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.”
Purshottam Narain Singh, a member of central advisory board of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), said it was not in the interest of Muslims to refer the birthplace of Lord Ram as disputed.
President of Sant Samiti Mahant Kanahiya Das said he was confident about the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
“After today’s verdict, it is clear that even Lord Ram wants a grand temple at his birthplace,” he said.
Meanwhile, regional spokesman of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Sharad Sharma said a meeting of Sant Uchchadhikar Samiti had been called in New Delhi on October 5 to chalk out the future course action for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The Supreme Court is hearing the Ayodhya land title appeals against the Allahabad high court’s judgment of 2010 which had ordered a three-way partition of the disputed land.
A Supreme Court bench headed by chief justice Deepak Mishra, justice Ashok Bhushan and justice Abdul Nazeer had reserved its judgment on July 20 last on the question whether the apex court’s 1994 ruling requires reconsideration by a larger bench.
