Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) Welcoming the Allaghabad High Court verdict, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat Thursday said it has almost cleared the way for building a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya and asked both Hindus and Muslims to come forward to help in constructing it.

Bhagwat, thanking the judges of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court for the verdict, said the verdict was a "victory of rashtriya pehchan (national identity)".

Bhagwat also said the verdict should not be viewed as a victory or defeat. "We should not take it as a victory or defeat," he said, and asked Hindus to be reserved in portraying their happiness over it so as not to upset the other side.

"This has almost cleared the way for a building a grand Ram temple," he said.

He also asked people to "forget the bitterness of the past years" and urged both Hindus and Muslims to come forward for constructing a Ram temple.

The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court Thursday ruled that the mosque in Ayodhya was built on the site of a temple after demolishing it.