Unhappy over order, BJP politicians say temple only way out of impasse

NEW DELHI: BJP was clearly unhappy with the Supreme Court sending the Ayodhya dispute for mediation with several leaders making it clear on Friday that building a Ram temple at the disputed site was the only way out of the impasse.

Union minister Uma Bharati said one has to respect the Supreme Court order but asserted that she stands for building the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya and a mosque can be built only outside its vicinity.

BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao said keeping the dispute pending for long was not in anyone’s interest. “It is important to resolve the issue but it is more important and essential to build a grand temple at Sri Ram Janmabhoomi. This cannot be kept pending for a long time,” he said.

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy stressed that construction of the temple was non-negotiable. “There is no question of not building a temple where we believe Lord Ram was born,” he added.

Union minister Giriraj Singh said he had no comments to offer but asked Muslims “not to be obstinate” as he pitched for building the temple. “Can there be anything other than a mosque in Mecca and Medina? Do Hindus have not even this much right after partition that we can offer prayers to Lord Ram in Ayodhya?” he asked.

Swamy said the court’s decision was welcome but claimed that the mediation panel would have to “map the problem within the parameters so far set by the apex court starting from its 1994 constitutional bench judgment and ending with the three-judge verdict of September 27, 2018”