New Delhi, Nov 4 (NIE): A day after BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said the delay in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit verdict had left the Hindu society and supporters of the Ram temple feeling “anxious”, Union Minister Uma Bharti on Sunday said any talk of constructing a mosque close to a Ram temple in Ayodhya could make Hindus “intolerant”.
“Hindus are the most tolerant community in the world. I will appeal to all politicians: please don’t make Hindus intolerant by talking about building a mosque on the outer periphery of the birthplace of Lord Ram in Ayodhya,” Bharti told PTI in an interview.
When there could not be a temple in the holy town of Medina or a mosque in the Vatican City, she said, it would be “unfair” to talk about a mosque in Ayodhya. The union minister also invited Congress president Rahul Gandhi to lay the foundation stone of the temple in Ayodhya with her, saying he could “atone for the sins” of his party which always created “hurdles” in building the temple in Ayodhya.
“We need support of all political parties on this issue. I invite all leaders including, Rahul Gandhiji, come let’s lay the foundation stone of the Ram temple with me,” Bharti said.
Describing the Ayodhya dispute as one of land and not faith, Bharti said, “This is now only a matter of dispute of land, not dispute of faith. It has been resolved that Ayodhya is the birth place of Lord Ram.”
She also stressed the need for an out-of-court settlement of the contentious issue, and urged all political leaders — including Gandhi, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, BSP leader Mayawati and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee — to support this.
SP supremo Mulayam Singh, Banerjee, Mayawati and the Left parties should support the BJP on this issue as it is of national interest, she said.
“But they aren’t letting the matter get resolved. The Congress will have to quit the habit of dividing the country in the name of religion,” Bharti said, reiterating that all political parties should unite on this issue.
Bharti, who had participated in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement of the 1990s, said she was fully committed to the construction of Ram temple.
“If they tell me that Ram Mandir will be built only over my dead body, then so be it,” she said.
On Saturday, speaking to ANI, Ram Madhav said the 1992 “dilly-dallying” “had led to certain consequences”. The Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992.
It was because the judiciary had postponed the matter that “anxious” supporters of Ram temple and the Hindu society were asking the government to issue an ordinance on the matter, Madhav said. Asked for his view on the ordinance demand, he did not respond.