Ram still in exile, scorns Thackeray

He asks the BJP-led govt to build temple before SC verdict

Ram still in exile, scorns Thackeray

The Sena chief visited Ayodhya along with his family and Sena leaders

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has said that the Ram Janmabhoomi appeared like a jail to him. Thackeray said this after visiting the disputed site on Sunday. The darshan, which was followed by a media interaction, concluded the leader's two-day tour of Ayodhya where he questioned the BJP government on its promise of constructing the Ram Temple and asked if the wish would be fulfilled before the Supreme Court decided on it.

"I felt like I was entering a jail when I visited the Ram Janmabhoomi. I felt sad and thought that Ram continues to be in vanvas (exile)," he said about the holy place where the deity's idol is kept in a temporary tent-like structure. The site is heavily guarded by security forces and the devotees are allowed in only after physical checks. Thackeray, his wife Rashmi, son Aditya and senior party leaders spent about 40 minutes inside the shrine. They performed a puja and received a warm welcome from the head priest. "The place and its vibes are so enlightening," he said.

On his maiden visit to the holy city, Thackeray said the BJP headed the strongest ever pro-Hindutva government and it was the government's responsibility to construct the temple. "Yogiji (UP CM Adityanath) says there was a temple, there is a temple and there will be a temple. But where is the temple? Can anyone see it? If this government doesn't build the Ram temple then it will not win the next elections. And, if the government is waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on the issue then it should not make it an election plank," he told media persons. "Can they not make a law? We will support it," he said.

'Will not cede an inch of land for anything but Ram temple'
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday said that they will not cede an inch of land for anything but a Ram temple and demanded from the Sunni Waqf Board that they withdraw their case over distribution of the disputed land as ordered by the Allahabad High Court (HC). Vice-president Champat Rai, said, "The distribution of land is not acceptable to us and we want the whole land for Lord Ram. The fire continues to simmer inside our hearts." He added that the matter goes back to 490 years and not merely to 1992 when the mosque was demolished.

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