Two days before the Winter Session of Parliament gets underway on Tuesday, Sunday's event was seen as an attempt to pressure the Centre to enact a law for the temple's construction
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday organised a massive 'Dharma Sabha' at New Delhi's Ramlila Maidan where seers from various Hindu sects took a pledge for the construction of a grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Two days before the Winter Session of Parliament gets underway on Tuesday, Sunday's event was seen as an attempt to pressure the Centre to enact a law for the temple's construction.
Addressing a huge congregation, RSS sarkaryavah (general secretary) Bhaiyaji Joshi said, "The Ram Temple will be built on Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. This is what crores of Ram bhakts want. Their sentiments must be respected. In a democracy, those in the government have the duty to fulfil the demands and aspirations of the people," he said.
Joshi, considered the RSS' second-in-command, said those in power must take "positive initiatives" in this regard. "A country where people cast aspersions on the judiciary will find it difficult to grow. Hope the judiciary understands that," he said.
Joshi was making an oblique reference to the Supreme Court's decision to decline an urgent hearing of the Ram Janmabhumi-Ayodhya title suit.
VHP president Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje said the disputed structure in Ayodhya was constructed on the ruins of Ram Temple. "Therefore, it can't be a religious structure. It was nothing but a symbol of invasion," he said.
Sadhvi Rithambara, one of the prominent faces from the 1992 Ram Janmabhoomi movement, VHP vice-president Champat Rai, and seers like Swami Chinmayanand, Swami Awdeshanand, Swami Hansdevacharya, Mahant Hariharanand, Swami Gyananand, Swami Hansdevacharya were among those who addressed the gathering.
Sources from Delhi Police said around two lakh people were present at the venue. Elaborate security arrangements were made in and around Ramlila Maidan. As many as 10,000 buses were booked to ferry bhakts from various places of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
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