Ayodhya: VHP’s first lot of stones for Ram temple arrives, police on alert
Ayodhya, Dec 21: Almost six months after VHP announced its nationwide drive to collect stones for construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, two trucks of stones arrived in the temple city on Sunday, even as police said it was monitoring the situation.
"Two trucks of stones have been unloaded at Ram Sewak Puram, a VHP property in Ayodhya, and ‘Shila Pujan' (praying of the stones) has been performed by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the president of Ram Janam Bhumi Nyas," VHP spokesman Sharad Sharma said.
Meanwhile, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das told reporters that there was a "signal" from the Modi government that the temple will be build "now". "Now, the time has come for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Lot of stones arrived today in Ayodhya. And now the arrival of stones will continue. We have signals from Modi Government that Mandir construction would be done now," he said.
Reacting to the arrival of stones at VHP headquarters, Faizabad Senior Superintendent of Police Mohit Gupta said that the police was monitoring the situation. "We are monitoring all the developments minutely. Stones have arrived and being kept in a private premises. Due to this development, if their was any breach in peace or communal harmony we will definitely take action," he said.
Asserting its resolve to build the Ram temple, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had in June announced a nationwide drive to collect stones for construction of the temple here and had also asked the Muslim community not to pose any hindrance.
"About 2.25 lakhs cubic ft of stones are required for the construction of the Ram temple and about 1.25 lakh cubic ft of stones are ready at the VHP's headquarter in Ayodhya. The rest one lakh cubic ft stones would be collected nationwide from Hindu devotees," VHP leader Ashok Singhal, who died last month in Gurgaon, had said.
The
announcement
had
met
with
a
quick
reaction
from
the
administration,
which
had
said
that
it
would
oppose
the
move
as
the
matter
was
sub
judice.
Principal
Secretary
(Home),
Devashish
Panda,
had
said
that
the
Uttar
Pradesh
government
would
not
allow
arrival
of
stones
in
Ayodhya
for
Ram
Mandir.
"Since
the
matter
is
sub
judice,
the
government
will
not
allow
starting
of
any
new
tradition
regarding
Ayodhya
issue,"
he
had
said.
PTI