Shiv Kumar



Tribune News Service



Mumbai, December 7

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has begun a campaign to mobilise its supporters for the construction of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.



The outfit said it would be holding its first ‘Dharam Sabha’ where prominent Hindu priests will come together and demand that the central government enact a law to build the Ram Mandir. “We want to create a movement to pressure the government to bring about a law to build the Ram Mandir during the winter session of Parliament,” says Shankar Gaikar, who heads the VHP in Western Maharashtra.



According to Gaikar, the first event will be held in Pune on Sunday. The Dharma Sabha, he said, would bring in several Hindu priests from in and around the town at Nathubaugh grounds on the Bajirao road in Pune.

Gaikar, who allegedly led a group of ‘kar sevaks’ from Mumbai who brought down the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, said successive governments have failed to help build the Ram Mandir.



”Even the Supreme Court refused to hear the case in October and postponed the hearing to the next year. Now, the only hope for the Ram Mandir is a law by the Central government,” Gaikar told reporters in Pune.



In a statement, VHP said it would be holding rallies and protests across the country to pressure the Narendra Modi government for such a law. “The VHP will hold 500 rallies across India for the Ram Mandir,” the outfit’s statement said.