Lucknow: Ayodhya case is to be heard by the 5-Judge Constitution Bench of Supreme Court today. The Bench is headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. The case was pending for six decades and at the heart of India’s most politically divisive row, comes amid demands to speed up the plan to build a Ram temple at the site where the 16th-century Babri mosque stood before it was razed by Hindu right-wing activists in 1992.
The ruling party of India and some of its allies want a special executive order or ordinance to enable the start of construction before the general elections are announced. But the Supreme Court denied an early hearing, last year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that any decision on passing an executive order on the Ram temple issue cannot be made unless the judicial process is over.
” Let the judicial process be over. After the judicial process is over, whatever will be our responsibility as the government, we are ready to make all efforts. We have said in our BJP manifesto that a solution would be found to this issue under the ambit of the Constitution”, Modi said.
In the last two years that the BJP has been in power in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu priest as well, has made Ayodhya a showcase when it comes to development and tourism projects. Part of the plan is to build a massive Ram statue in the temple town that will be the world’s tallest. The BJP hopes these moves will attract votes in the general elections, especially from those among the majority Hindus who believe that a Ram temple should be constructed in Ayodhya at the earliest.
In response to this controversy, a Muslim leader said “We welcome the five-judge bench constituted by Supreme Court. Every citizen of the country is expecting the court to hear the matter for its final verdict. We expect this issue will be settled as soon as possible,” said Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali, a prominent Muslim cleric in Lucknow.
In October, the Supreme Court rejected the Uttar Pradesh government’s appeal for an early hearing of the 14 petitions in the case. The dispute in Ayodhya is over 2.7 acres of land on which the Babri Masjid stood before it was demolished on December 6, 1992.
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