Ayodhya ruling recognises belief on Ram’s birthplace: Advani

NEW DELHI - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said Sunday that the Allahabad High Court judgment on the Ayodhya dispute has given judicial recognition to the belief of millions of Hindus that the makeshift temple where Ram idols are installed is the deity’s birthplace.

In the latest post “It is not faith versus law, it is faith upheld by law” on his blog, Advani said he was extremely happy to say that after the “landmark judgement” delivered by the Allahabad High Court Sep 30, “the country has arrived at a fortuitous point where judicial verdict can form the basis of an amicable settlement between representatives of Hindu and Muslim communities”.

“As both the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and BJP have emphasised, this judgement has given judicial recognition to the fact that millions in the country do believe that the makeshift temple where Ram Lalla is presently installed is Ram Janmabhoomi - the birthplace of Ram,” Advani said.

He said he had indicated in his autobiography, published in 2008, that a solution to the Ayodhya dispute was imminent during the time Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister (1998-2004).

Citing from his autobiography, Advani said that as one of the principal participants in the Ayodhya movement, it had been his endeavour throughout the six years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government rule to see how the dispute could be resolved speedily and peacefully.

“The three options for dispute resolution were obvious: 1) Legislation; 2) Judicial verdict; and 3) Amicable settlement between representatives of Hindu and Muslim communities.”

“The principles and contours of a workable agreement had emerged in the beginning of 2004, and it was decided by the two sides that an announcement to this effect could be made immediately after the elections to the 14th Lok Sabha in May. Of course, this was done on the expectation, on both the Hindu and Muslim sides, that the Vajpayee government would win a renewed mandate in the election and take the responsibility of implementing the mutually agreed formula. Sadly, that was not to happen.

Advani said he was a firm believer in destiny. “I am convinced that the rise of a befitting temple at Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya is pre-destined. How and when it will happen is a matter of secondary importance to be determined by the forces of history. But the fact that it will happen is as certain as the certainty that brought the oft-demolished and oft-reconstructed Somnath temple into existence yet again,” he said.

Advani, who embarked on a ‘rath yatra’ from Somnath to Ayodhya in 1990 to mobilise support for construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya, said he was “humbled by the awareness that destiny granted me an opportunity to play a role in this collective national effort that is waiting for the fulfillment of a centuries-old Hindu resolve. My only wish and appeal is that our Muslim brethren come forward with a gesture of magnanimity and goodwill that matches that of the Hindus”.

“I feel extremely happy to say today that after the landmark judgement delivered by the Allahabad High Court two days back, the country has arrived at a fortuitous point, where Option 2 and 3 identified above can well be blended,” Advani said in the post.

Advani said the BJP formally adopted a resolution supporting the Ayodhya movement in 1989 and urged the government to adopt the same approach towards the Ayodhya temple that the first government of independent India displayed towards Somnath temple.

He said that despite then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s reservations, president Rajendra Prasad attended the ceremony marking installation of the deity at Somnath.