Mosque near temple to make Hindus intolerant, says Uma Bharti

New Delhi: Union minister Uma Bharti on Sunday invited Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to jointly lay the foundation stone of Ram temple in Ayodhya with her and warned all politicians against attempts to construct a mosque on the periphery of the temple as such a move could make Hindus “intolerant”.

Ms Bharti’s remarks coincided with a body of Hindu seers pressing for Ram temple construction through an ordinance by the Union government.

In an interview, Ms Bharti said, “Hindus are the most tolerant community in the world. I will appeal to all politicians: please don’t make Hindus intolerant by talking about building a mosque on the outer periphery of the birthplace of Lord Ram in Ayodhya.”

The Cabinet minister for drinking water and sanitation also asked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to lay the foundation stone of Ayodhya temple with her, saying he would “atone for the sins” of his party by doing so. Ms Bharti’s colleague and Union minister Giriraj Singh said in Bihar’s Nawada that no power in the world can stop the construction of Ram temple.

“The people want the government and the court to find a way for constructing Ram temple,” the minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises told reporters.

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya echoed his sentiments and told reporters in Lakhimpur Kheri, “We can tell for certain in one line that a grand Ram temple would be constructed whenever the time comes.”

In a related development, the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, a seers’ body, met in Delhi on Sunday and demanded that the Narendra Modi government should either bring a legislation or an ordinance to pave the way for construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya before the Lok Sabha polls.

The samiti, through a “Dharmadesh” issued on the concluding day of its two-day long conclave, also asked the Hindu society to unite for the cause and expressed hope that the Modi government will fulfil its wish of construction of the temple at the currently disputed site. It asked people to vote for those who protect “Gai (cow), Ganga and Govind (God)”.

Restating Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s statement made at an event in Rajasthan on Tuesday, the samiti asked people to light an extra earthen lamp on Diwali in the name of Ram Mandir.

To put pressure on the government and also to keep the issue alive in this election season, the samiti has decided to hold public meetings, “dharmsabhas” and “dharmjagrans” in Ayodhya, Nagpur and Bengaluru on November 25. Such events will also be organised in all the districts across the states later.

Also on December 9, hundreds of saints will congregate in the national capital to hold a “dharmsabha” to demand construction of the Ram temple. The conclave, which saw participation of over 3,000 seers from across the country, also deliberated on other issues including a central legislation for cow protection, cleaning of the Ganga, illegal immigrants and demanded early completion of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process in Assam.

Pressure is mounting on the BJP led government for early construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, especially after the Supreme Court deferred the Ramjanbhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case till January, with the Sangh Parivar threatening a 1992 like movement. RSS ideologue and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha has hinted at bringing a private member bill on the Ram temple issue in Parliament.  

Though the BJP is yet to officially react on the legislation or ordinance demand made by the Sangh Parivar, some of its leaders have been ecohing views in favour of the demand put before the government.