Upananda Brahmachari | HENB | Haridwar | Dec 3, 2015::While BJP refused to convey any specific timeline for the construction of a Ram temple even as the RSS, in a series of tweets in its official twitter handle on Thursday, reiterated Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments calling on society to prepare for building of a grand temple in Ayodhya on the lines of the one in Somnath.
The Somnath Temple of Gujarat was rebuilt in November 1947, when the then Home Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel visited the area for the integration of Junagadh and mooted a plan for restoration. After Patel’s death in 1950, the rebuilding continued under Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, another minister of the Government of India. This legendary Somnath temple has been destroyed and rebuilt several times by Islamic invaders and Hindu kings respectively
A day after Bhagwat spoke in Kolkata on Wednesday, expressing hope that a Ram temple would be constructed in his lifetime, RSS on Thursday issued a series of tweets quoting the Sangh chief on the issue.
Bhagwat recalled that Somnath temple was rebuilt with the “efforts” of the then home minister Sardar Patel, whose contributions to public life have been celebrated by the Modi government in a big way. “India is rich in religion and culture. Ram is our ideal whom some regard as god and some as a great man … Society should rise taking inspiration from Ram and Sharad Kothari and prepare for building a grand Ram temple like Somnath,” the RSS chief said.
The reference to brothers Ram and Sharad Kothari, activists killed in police firing on ‘karservaks’ in 1990 during a march to the disputed site in Ayodhya, follows Bhagwat’s comment that “the grand goal may be realized in our own time. Maybe, we can see it with our own eyes”.
Reacting to Bhagwat’s comments, BJP said that it “definitely believes Ram temple should be built sometime.”
In Patna, Nitish Kumar attacked the RSS and BJP over Bhagwat’s remarks and said the saffron party was interested in keeping the issue “alive” for political purposes.
“BJP merely wishes to keep the Ram Temple issue alive.
They have no respect for Lord Rama,” Kumar told reporters.
“They treat Lord Rama as if God is a member of BJP.”
Of late, Hindutva leaders have been increasingly demanding the construction of Ram temple, more so after the death of prominent VHP leader Ashok Singhal, a key architect of Ram temple movement.
__inputs from PTI.