In the absence of a consensus over the date to start the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya, the two-day conclave of the Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) decided to form committees at Central, State and village levels to create public awareness about the temple programme and also formulate a schedule for the temple's construction. Chosen to head the Ram Mandir Nirman Samiti is the acting president of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, Ramachandra Paramhans of Ayodhya. The 90-year-old religious head of the Digambar sect is the original petitioner in the Ram Janmabhoomi case (filed in 1958) and, according to the VHP, has been involved with the "liberation" of the "temple" since 1934. Paramhans spoke to Ravi Sharma. Excerpts from the conversation:
What is the programme for the construction of the temple?
It was decided that at the coming Dharm Sansad (religious parliament) at the Kumbh Mela in January 2001 the dharmacharyas and organisational committees would decide the programme. There is no case against the owner of the temple. The (Allahabad) H igh Court gave orders allowing the holding of poojas. The Ram temple already exists at Ayodhya. What is needed is to give it grandeur and aura. If the temple is not there why do people go there to pray as they are doing now? Once the stone work that now goes on (outside the disputed site) is completed, it has to be decided when work on the actual structure can start. After that I will not wait for the direction from any (law) court or government.
Even the BJP government?Yes, any government. Governments don't have to build the temple. The temple has to be built by the dharmacharyas and the people.
If the court does not give permission for the temple what will you do?
If the court gives a verdict against the principles of religion, we (people) will not accept it. Have we ever accepted a verdict of a court which is against religious principles? When the court gave a verdict to hang patriots Jagat Rajguru and Bhagat Singh, did the people praise the decision? The courts of Bhagwan Ram, Bhagwan Krishna and Bhagwan Shankar are higher than the Supreme Court. They do not come under any court.
After Ram Janmabhoomi...After the Ram Janmabhoomi is restored, we will take up the construction of (temples at) Krishna Janmabhoomi (Mathura) and Kashi (Varanasi) since the way will be opened up.
A mosque existed where you plan to build a Ram temple. What about the sentiments of Muslims?
There was no mosque there. What was there were the ruins of our temple. Poojas, etc were going on inside the temple.
After the Babri Masjid was pulled down in December 1992, there was a lot of unrest in the country. Don't you think that it may happen again if you go ahead with the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site?
One thing I want to clarify is that there is no unrest on account of Ram Janmabhoomi. There is unrest in Assam, Jharkhand, Punjab, Kashmir... but not because of the Ram Janmabhoomi issue. Let me ask you a question. There is unrest because we are protecting Kashmir, so should we give away Kashmir? China has taken some of our territory, so there was unrest. Should we just give it away? Goa was in the hands of Portugal. There was unrest during the struggle to free Goa. Should we have left Goa and gone? That is why, to establish peace, revolution, which sometimes leads to unrest, is necessary. And if there is the necessity for this revolution I will not hesitate to launch it. The Ram mandir was destroyed by force by Babar. We also brought down the structure (Babri Masjid) by force. We can use the same force to build the temple. There is no dearth of force since the Hindu organisations are with me.
You spoke of three places where you plan to build temples. Will you stop with them?
There are many places (where temples once stood). But they were razed to the ground and we have forgotten them. But three places (Ram Janmabhoomi, Krishna Janmabhoomi and Kashi Vishwanath temple) were partly destroyed and it became an insult to our religion and became an issue. This issue is also affecting and destroying Hindu-Muslim unity. That is why in the interest of Hindu-Muslim unity these temples must be restored. The VHP does not want to harm anybody's religious interests. It is not a political body. It is a Hindu organisation that will support the dharmacharyas in their cause.
No date has been fixed for the construction of the temple. Is it not a setback?
No. Why bother about a date? Babar did not give a date and tear down (the Ram temple).
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