Mumbai: Hailing the Centre’s decision to seek the Supreme Court’s permission for handing over of the "excess" land around the disputed site in Ayodhya to Ram janmabhoomi Nyas, the Shiv Sena has said that the move signifies a step ahead towards the construction of the Ram mandir.
It said that the stand of the government was a vindication for the Shiv Sena, as the party had been consistently pressurising the Centre to build a Ram Mandir.
“The whole area is Ram Janmabhoomi. It is not just about the disputed land. We don’t have a birth certificate to prove that Lord Ram was born there. It is an issue of emotions, of identity, of faith, for the people of the country. We had been demanding that the government take a call on the undisputed land at least,” Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena MP and executive editor of Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana, told CNN-News18.
He also said that the party would welcome the government’s move if it decided to construct a Ram temple in the non-disputed area. Over 65 acres of land around the disputed area of alleged Ram janmabhoomi is in government possession. There is status quo on 67 acres of land that is in government possession. Of it, nearly 2.7 acres of land is disputed.
“But even on that land, there is a small temple of Ram Lalla,” Raut said.
The government’s plea in the SC also emphasised that only 0.313 area, upon which the Babri mosque stood, is the bone of contention and since the ownership of the "excess" and "superfluous" area is beyond any dispute, their land should be released from acquisition.
The court had in 2003 and 2011 imposed a complete status quo on entire 67.7 acre of the land acquired by the government in 1993, saying that returning it could complicate the dispute further.
Raut refused to answer questions on whether this step will pave way for an alliance with the BJP. “This isn’t a political issue. It is an issue of identity. Uddhav Thackeray ji had been pressurising the government for Ram Mandir consistently for three years now. We see this as vindication of our stand,” he said.
The Shiv Sena has left no stone unturned in targeting the government over its failure to build a Ram mandir. It has slammed the government several times through its mouthpiece Saamana, saying that the party had failed to respect the sentiments of people.
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