Ram Temple stones’ permit denied

In an obvious attempt to appease its Muslim voters, the Akhilesh government in Uttar Pradesh has denied permission to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to import stones from Rajasthan and Gujarat for the construction of the proposed Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The commercial tax department in Faizabad has refused to issue Form 39 to the VHP for the import of stones.

Stones meant for commercial construction invite VAT in UP but in cases of personal use, the tax is waived, for which Form 39 is issued by the department and has to be attached to the consignment.

The VHP, so far, has been using this form for importing stones for the temple. The commercial tax department has refused to issue this form, citing “orders from higher ups”.

Akhilesh Shukla, additional commissioner in the commercial tax department, said the permission was denied as the VHP application said that the stones were being imported by the Ram Mandir Trust for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Mr Shukla said that permission for import of stones was granted by a new officer in the department in November because he was probably not informed of the SC order. He said that action had been taken against the guilty officer.

It may be recalled that in November last year, there was considerable hue and cry when a fresh consignment of stones arrived in Ayodhya after a gap of almost nine years. This was seen as a part of VHP’s renewed efforts to give momentum to the temple movement despite the Supreme Court order.

The officer, meanwhile, said that a large number of stones were lying unused in Karsevakpuram and there was no immediate need to import more stones.

Local VHP leader Triloki Nath Pandey confirmed that their application for permission to import stones has been turned down. He said that a consignment of stones was ready in Rajasthan to be delivered.

The temple trust has been importing stones since 1991. A battery of stone cutters and artisans was deployed for the carving work but with the titles suit pending before the SC, the pace of work slowed and almost stopped after 2007.

“It was because mining was stopped in Rajasthan and we were not getting the desired size of stones”, the VHP leader said.

The Akhilesh government, on the other hand, has been facing criticism from non-BJP parties for allowing import of stones for temple construction.