2 trucks of stones for Ram temple replacing Babri mosque arrive in Ayodhya

AYODHYA (Web Desk) - Almost six months after Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) announced its nationwide drive to collect stones for construction of Ram temple in place of Babri mosque in Ayodhya, two trucks of stones arrived in the temple city on Sunday, even as police said it was monitoring the situation, reported Press Trust of India (PTI).

“Two trucks of stones have been unloaded at Ram Sewak Puram, a VHP property in Ayodhya, and ‘Shila Pujan’ (praying of the stones) has been performed by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the president of Ram Janam Bhumi Nyas,” VHP spokesman Sharad Sharma said.

Meanwhile, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das told reporters that there was a “signal” from the Modi government that the temple will be build “now”.

“Now, the time has come for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Lot of stones arrived today in Ayodhya. And now the arrival of stones will continue. We have signals from Modi Government that Mandir construction would be done now,” he said.

Reacting to the arrival of stones at VHP headquarters, Faizabad Senior Superintendent of Police Mohit Gupta said that the police was monitoring the situation. “We are monitoring all the developments minutely. Stones have arrived and being kept in a private premises. Due to this development, if there was any breach in peace or communal harmony we will definitely take action,” he said.

Asserting its resolve to build the Ram temple, the VHP had in June announced a nationwide drive to collect stones for construction of the temple here and had also asked the Muslim community not to pose any hindrance.

“About 2.25 lakhs cubic ft of stones are required for the construction of the Ram temple and about 1.25 lakh cubic ft of stones are ready at the VHP’s headquarter in Ayodhya. The rest one lakh cubic ft stones would be collected nationwide from Hindu devotees,” VHP leader Ashok Singhal, who died last month in Gurgaon, had said.

The announcement had met with a quick reaction from the administration, which had said that it would oppose the move as the matter was sub judice. Principal Secretary (Home), Devashish Panda, had said that the Uttar Pradesh government would not allow arrival of stones in Ayodhya for Ram Mandir.

“Since the matter is sub judice, the government will not allow starting of any new tradition regarding Ayodhya issue,” he had said.

The temple is being built on the place of Babri mosque that was demolished by the Hindu fanatics in India on December 6, 1992 as per directives by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The mosque was devastated by Indian extremists who wanted to turn the mosque into a temple.

The demolition of Muslims’ worship place left more than 2000 people dead in the ensuing riots in many major Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad.