Calls For Ram Temple In Ayodhya Politically Driven, Says Muslim Board

The remarks by an RSS leader that it would not hesitate to launch an agitation for a Ram temple in Ayodhya was "extremely dangerous", a senior leader of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board said today.

On Friday, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi said it will not hesitate to launch an agitation for a Ram temple at Ayodhya, if needed. The RSS is the ideological mentor of the BJP.

The remark came amid growing calls for a law to clear the way for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

"The flurry of activities on the demand for construction of a Ram temple by the so-called Hindu outfits and their impatience clearly indicates that it is politically-driven," AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Wali Rahmani said.

"This is being done to build pressure for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But what those outfits do is still not clear," Mr Rahmani said.

He said if the RSS launched a movement for the temple, "it will be extremely dangerous" and will lead to an "atmosphere of chaos in the country".

"The quantum of hatred between Hindus and Muslims was not so much in 1992. In the recent years, the rift has widened..." Mr Rahmani said.

Maulana Ashad Rashidi, president of the Jamait Ulema-e-Hind's Uttar Pradesh unit, said, "All of us have to exercise patience and wait for the court's verdict. Whatever is the verdict of the court, it must be accepted. This will ensure an atmosphere of peace in the country."

Outlining the RSS' stand on the Ram temple issue at a news conference on Friday, Bhaiyyaji Joshi said Hindus were feeling "insulted" by the Supreme Court's declaration that it had priorities other than the Ayodhya issue and insisted for an ordinance if all options ran out.

"We will not hesitate to launch an agitation for a Ram temple, if needed, but since the matter is in the Supreme Court, there are restrictions," he said, when he was asked by reporters whether the RSS would launch an agitation.