On Tuesday, before for BRICS summit in Brazil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to deliberate setting up of a trust for construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
According to Hindustan Times, Modi chaired a meeting with a small group of union ministers to deliberate on the setting up of a trust that will have the mandate to decide on all matters related to the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Person aware of the development told the leading daily, “The apex court has given the central government the powers to decide {on} issues related to the land and construction. So as per the directions of the court, if the centre needs to purchase additional land around the site for the construction of the temple, it can do so.”
The Supreme Court in a historic verdict on October 9 backed the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.
The SC, in its judgment, said, “…the Central Government will be at liberty to make suitable provisions in respect of the rest of the acquired land by handing it over to the trust or body for management and development in terms of the scheme framed in accordance with the above directions.”
The dispute over the site of Babri Masjid, a three-domed mosque built by or at the behest of Moghul emperor Babur, dates back centuries with Hindus contending that the invading Muslim armies had razed an existing Ram temple to erect the mosque. However, it turned into a legal dispute in 1885 when a mahant went to court seeking permission to build a canopy outside the mosque. The plea was dismissed. In December 1949, unidentified miscreants spirited an idol of Lord Ram into the mosque. The structure was destroyed by a large mob of kar sevaks on December 6, 1992.
The demolition triggered nationwide Hindu-Muslim riots, more so in north India and Mumbai, which left many hundreds dead. Subsequently, Muslim extremists angered by the demolition and the riots, carried out a series of bombings in Mumbai on March 12, 1993, which left hundreds dead.
