Shiv Sena takes dig at BJP over Ram temple

Mumbai: In the immediate aftermath of Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid being brought down in 1992, late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray had said that if Shiv Sainiks were behind the erstwhile mosque’s demolition, he was proud of them, and that many senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had chickened out of the whole issue after it took on communal overtones. Cut to 2016, and the Sena is now using the same line of argument to taunt the BJP.

Since the morning on Tuesday, Sena supporters were busy posting images of Mr Thackeray’s quote on the demolition of Babri Masjid — as also of a quote that Ram Lala had made in a tent in Aydohya — on the party’s social media handles. The second picture was a taunt aimed at the BJP, with an answer being sought from the party on when the Ram temple promised in Aydohya would come up.

On the other hand, many BJP supporters on social media were sending out video links of the masjid being demolished, apart from links to articles about shots being fired at karsewaks in Ayodhya. Via these links, the BJP supporters are targeting the Samajwadi Party, as Mulayam Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh at the time.

While the right-wing party refers to December 6 as ‘Shaurya Diwas’ on account of the mosque being razed, Muslims refer to the day as ‘Shahid Din’. Talking about his party’s tweets with regard to Babri Masjid’s demolition, Ramesh Solanki, one of the Yuva Sena’s core committee members and also of the Sena’s IT cell, said, “We are just asking a question about when the Ram temple would come up in Ayodhya. Also, while BJP leaders had referred to the day as a black day and other such things, it was our party leader who owned up (to the act).”

But BJP Mumbai spokesperson Niranjan Shetty said: “The Sena shouldn’t worry about when the Ram Mandir would come up in Ayodhya — once promised, it will be delivered.”  Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi held a small protest in Nagpur, holding a placard against the demolition of Babri Masjid. Some mosques in Mumbai, too, organised a token protest via a special azaan.