Kalyan Singh to launch Ram temple movement

LUCKNOW - Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kalyan Singh Tuesday said he would soon start a movement to push for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya even as the court verdict in the Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid case is expected next week.

Singh, who was Uttar Pradesh chief minister when the 16th century Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya in 1992, said: “Hindus are in no mood to accept denial of their legitimate right over the disputed Ayodhya site.”

“We will stage demonstrations and start a full-fledged movement to launch construction of a grand Ram temple at the disputed Ayodhya site, which has been proved beyond doubt as the birthplace of Ram,” he said at a press conference here.

Kalyan Singh cited two reports of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for his claim. “The ASI reports have enough evidence to establish the Hindu claim about existence of an ancient Ram temple that was pulled down at the instance of Mughal emperor Babur, who got a mosque erected on its debris in the mid-16th century,” he alleged.

Exuding confidence that the verdict of a special three-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court was bound to go in favour of Hindus, he said that “time has come when the government must make up its mind to enact a special legislation for construction of the Ram temple”.

He said it is “common knowledge that Hindus have been offering prayers at the disputed site while no ‘namaaz’ was offered there for decades, so the only way the issue could be taken to its natural conclusion was by building a grand Ram temple at the site”.