MUMBAI: Saamna has with unconcealed pride reiterated Shiv Sena activists were in the forefront in bringing down the

in December 1992. The video clip made by BBC’s Mark Tully on Babri shows familiar faces of Sainiks, said Saamna in its Friday editorial.

Saamna said the Centre should invite national leaders such as Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Nitish Kumar and

for the function to mark the laying of foundation stone of the Ram temple in order to refute criticism that the function was a party affair. “Whether or not to attend is for the leaders to decide,” it added.

The paper demanded a memorial, patterned on New Delhi’s Amar Jawan Jyoti, be constructed on the Saryu’s banks to pay tribute to ‘kar sevaks’ who laid down their lives for the Ram temple. “The martyrs’ names should be inscribed on a pillar... they didn’t belong to a political party; they performed the ‘surgical strike’ to defend the country, the dharma and its honour,” it said.

Saamna alleged BJP was set to exploit the temple issue for the 2024 elections. “It appears the Ram temple trust plans to complete construction by 2024. Should this happen, Lord Ram will be chief guest of the Lok Sabha poll campaign,” Saamna said. It cited the appointment of excabinet secretary Nripendra Mishra as chairman of the ‘mandir nirman samiti’ in support of its claim that PM Modi was taking interest in expediting temple construction and had set a deadline for it. It stated, “How can one forget Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and a few other Hindutva groups had taken part in the stir? Sarayu had turned red because of the martyrs’ blood and the blood of Sena activists was boiling as well. Those who were atop Babri were

and Hindu Hriday

had accepted responsibility... But Sena never exploited Ram temple for electoral gains,” Saamna added. The editorial is an indication that Sena may be keen to consolidate its saffron votebank lest BJP appropriate it following temple construction, said party watchers.