Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati said that a ceremony to mark the start of construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya will take place on February 21, even if those gathering there have to “face bullets”
PRAYAGRAJ — A powerful priest said on Wednesday he would lead a group of followers to start building a temple on the ruins of a 16th-century mosque, which could violate a court order and raise religious tensions in an election year.
Religious leader Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati said on Wednesday that a ceremony to mark the start of construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya will take place on February 21, even if those gathering there have to “face bullets”, reports PTI.
The date for the planned ceremony, akin to a ‘shilanyas‘, was announced at the end of a three-day congregation of seers at the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj.
A mob of Hindu activists
Hindu groups believe the site is the birthplace of Lord Ram. They also point to evidence there was a temple there before the mosque was built in 1528.
The place where the Babri Mosque once stood is now under court control, guarded by armed state and federal police and surrounded by walls and watchtowers.
Zafaryab Jilani of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board said his community would not be provoked by such calls to disturb the status quo and that any attempt to breach the site would amount to a contempt of court.
“We’ll lay the foundation stone there on February 21,” Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati said after meeting sadhus and priests at the world’s biggest religious gathering, Kumbh Mela, in Uttar Pradesh. “Lord Ram resides there and that’s his birthplace.”
The ‘dharamadesh‘ (edict) issued by the Dwarka Peeth Shankaracharya after the ‘Dharam Sansad‘ urged Hindus to reach Ayodhya carrying four bricks each.
The planned ceremony is being called ‘Ishtika Nyas‘, or the laying of bricks.
The Shankaracharya said the sadhus will begin their march to Ayodhya from Prayagraj after Basant Panchami, which falls on February 10.
But Zafaryab Jilani, a secretary of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board and an advocate in the mosque case, said his community would not be provoked by such calls to disturb the status quo and that any attempt to breach the site would amount to a contempt of court.
“We have full faith in the Supreme Court,” he told Reuters.
Saraswati’s aides said they were ready to be arrested if their attempts are resisted.
His statement to Reuters partner ANI and others comes a day after the central government petitioned the Supreme Court to return land around the site seized by various court orders over the years.
Building the temple is a key demand of rightwing groups and some allies of the ruling BJP and has gained fresh impetus ahead of a general election due by May.
The BJP said in its 2014 general election manifesto it would “explore all possibilities within the framework of the constitution” to facilitate the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site.
The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, whose chief minister Yogi Adityanath is a saffron robe-wearing Hindu priest, has already
