

AYODHY: The Ramjanambhoomi Nyas, an affiliante of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah of forgetting the Ayodhya issue after assuming national roles and demanded that the Centre bring a bill in Parliament for the construction of Ram temple.

“He (Modi) went to Varanasi, Mathura and even Nepal and Bangladesh, but did not come to Ayodhya,” said Ram Vilas Vedanti, a senior member of the Nyas. “Even Amit Shah came to Ayodhya only during the Lok Sabha elections. But after that, he too forgot,” he said. Vedanti added that the government could have brought a bill if it wanted the way it did in case of land acquisition.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting of the Nyas, the high-power trust that takes decisions pertaining to construction of Ram Temple, Vedanti said: “The issue is in the psyche of crores of people. But the ruling BJP government is completely ignoring it,” he said.

Senior VHP leader Ashok Singhal who was also present at the meeting said that seers from Ayodhya and Haridwar would be meeting Modi soon to take up the temple issue. “While the issue would be raised before the PM, it should also be fast-tracked in the court,” he said. “The issue is sub judice. We are not above the court or the Constitution. But we think that the issue is a matter of faith for crores of Hindus,” he added.

Singhal said that the members of the trust have decided to make an appeal to people across the country to gift stones for construction of a massive temple at the disputed site. He said that the temple would require more than 2 lakh cubic feet of stone. Of this, more than 1 lakh cubic feet has already been received at Mandir Nirman Karyashala situated in the heart of Ayodhya. The trust expects to get the rest 1 lakh cubic feet within a year.

The trust also sought better facilities for Hindu devotees visiting the Ramjanmabhoomi. President of the Nyas, Nritya Gopal Das, said that the Nyas would be seeking the Centre’s intervention for allowing the devotees to worship from a closer distance. “Barricading should be lessened to provide more convenience to the visitors,” he said.

